Hunting or Bust
by Master Attlon
Summary: The paths we find ourselves on. Are they predetermined by fate? Or do we really have the power to change our future? Will we stick to the paths we find ourselves on? Or if a chance presented itself, would you take it? This is a new path. A new chance at life. A...did that kid just spew chunks all over the deck? Yes. Yes he did.
1. Your Ultimatum

Hunting or Bust

Dust 1: Your Ultimatum

I kinda threw this story together because I love RWBY as a series and thought about writing about it. This will probably just be an experiment.

I'm probably just going to stick with a T rating for this because I can pass the language pretty easily and there's not much else I can add to it that would make it horrifying. If I go on further and think to change it, I'll make it M. This is a fairly light-hearted show. Unlike Red vs Blue, that's a show with a Sailor's Mouth washed out by vinegar.

So anyway...

On with the show!

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

In a small business town in the country of Vale, there was a building where a very important piece of business was being discussed.

And on top of a building of similar size just across the street from it, there were two figures standing on the roof, looking down at their target.

"Hehehe, there it is. I'll give the Schnee Dust Company credit, it was a pretty good idea to conduct a transfer like this somewhere where no one would expect people to come and raid it." A cocky smirk grew on the whiskered teen's face, "Too bad that word travels fast towards us."

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" The other man asked while leaning on a crate on the roof, "I mean, we steal some Dust every now and then but this seems like a pretty big take. The risk is high if we get caught. There's a reason not a lot of people choose to steal from the Schnee Dust Company."

"But the cut is awesome if we make it!" The blond said with a cheer in his voice as he tried to persuade his friend. This man was tall boy, seventeen years of age. He had three thin black lines across each cheek and his canine teeth were slightly more pronounced than most people. He had a light blue undershirt with an orange vest over it. And black pants with orange stripes running down the seams leading to a park of black boots. Strapped to his tailbone was a small pack of items and attached along the center of his back was a red scabbard with a hook at the end of its hilt. He had little strands of blond hair peeking out from underneath the blue bandana he tied over his head.

"Naruto, I think you're purposefully ignoring the part about the guards, security, and the chances of us landing somewhere behind bars." The other man was a young handsome teen standing at about the same height as his blond cohort. He had ebony hair with bangs that lowered down to his chin. He had on a grey shirt and blue pants with tennis shoes that would better accompany him with mobility and escape. Attached to his left hip was a white scabbard with two fore-ends on its side and a small trigger device between them.

"Ah, Sauske, stop bein' so pessimistic man!" Naruto jumped up and threw an arm over his partner-in-crime's shoulder, "Think about it! These Dust Clump things are the biggest sources of unrefined, untapped Dust Crystals in Remnant! We swipe 'em, move 'em, send 'em through the right guys, and we get serious buck! What could possibly go wrong?"

Sasuke looked at him with a dry glare and shook his head, "You seriously didn't just tempt fate by saying that, did you?"

"Fate shmate-"

"You're making it worse."

"-All that matters is the hard work we put into it."

"Yeah well it doesn't really look like you're gonna put that much work into it." Sasuke leaned back and partially unsheathed the sword on Naruto's back with a raised eyebrow, "You only brought _Stormer _with you?"

"Hey!" Naruto stepped forward and pulled his sword back into its sheathe before gently petting it like a pet. He responded, "Yeah, of course I only brought _Stormer_. Bringing _Gatling _would be overkill. I only take those babies out for the really important jobs."

"And this doesn't constitute as an important job, why?"

"Look." Naruto jumped up on the ledge of the roof and pulled his blade out from behind his back. He spun it in his hand with an experienced move before smirking back at his friend, "It's us. We can handle anything thrown our way."

Sasuke just looked up from his position before hanging his head and sighing. He grasped the scabbard and pulled out his sword before stepping up on the ledge as well. He looked over at Naruto, "If this goes belly-up, I'm blaming you."

"As you rightfully should."

The two teens jumped down from the building and lowered themselves to the street. They maneuvered through the shadows and climbed the side of another building before making their way up to the roof of their target. Sasuke held his sword against the window on the roof and carefully ran the tip in a circle until it cut clean through.

The sliced up window almost fell to the floor a dozen feet down but Naruto grabbed it and pulled it out of the way. Naruto pulled his sword out and gripped it in anticipation, "You ready?"

Sasuke cleared the way, "You first."

Naruto jumped down from the roof and landed in a crouch before he prepared for battle, "WRAHHHHHHHHH-hey what happened?"

There were a dozen guards laying unconscious on the floor. In the center of the room were several men dressed in black suits, packing up the shipments of Dust and Dust Crystals in large crates to be hauled in two separate vans. And the Dust Clumps were being stored in suitcases and handcuffed to the robbers' wrists. The eight men looked up to see the two teens standing in the center of the room.

Sasuke blinked, "Hey, someone else had the same idea."

Naruto...was far less amused at the revelation...

"HEY YOU ASSHOLES, THAT'S OUR SCORE! DROP IT!"

The robbers looked between each other after the blond's exclamation. Five of them pulled out large, collapsible red blades and the last three pulled out sub-machine guns. Sasuke and Naruto reacted and dove behind a couple of steel barrels while the men started laying fire.

The two thieves ducked their heads while bullets riddled the steel and space just above their head. Sasuke covered his ears and yelled, "Regretting not bringing the rest of your weapons?!"

Naruto yelled back, "Thinkin' 'bout it!"

Sasuke used his sword to get a look at the men attacking them. He watched as three men got into one van and started it up, "One of the vans is moving!"

"What?!"

"They're getting away with all the Dust!" Sasuke ducked down as a bullet nearly went through his head. He looked towards the ducking blond, "What's the plan now?!"

Naruto thought for a moment before a lightbulb blinked over his head. Before being immediately destroyed by a stray bullet. Naruto sat up a little, "Okay, you stay here and take care of the rest of these guys! And make sure that the van doesn't escape here without you being behind the wheel! I'll chase after the guys that are already running!"

"Okay! Solid plan!" Sasuke nodded before a second passed, "What's your plan for dodging the bullets?!"

"Pfft! You know bullets can't hurt me!" Naruto looked off to the side, "Well, I mean, not for very long at least!"

"I still suggest we try to stop them shooting for a moment so you can run!"

"Then let's try this!" Naruto grabbed Sasuke's scabbard and cocked the fore-end closer to the bottom, uncovering a small compartment that opened up to reveal a double-barreled shotgun. Naruto pointed it at the wall and fired off a round, shooting a powerful blast and nearly destroying the whole wall.

The robbers stopped for a moment and all faced towards the wall where they had heard the loud bang.

Naruto flipped out from behind the barrels and jumped over the heads of the robbers. He landed in a crouch before making a mad dash after the van that had rounded the corner.

While the crooks were still surprised by Naruto's sudden departure, Sasuke vaulted over the barrel with one hand on the edge of it. He spun on his knees and tossed the steel barrel at the group of thugs, knocking them all away and on their butts.

While one of the gunners tried to lift himself up again, Sasuke stepped on his gun before kicking him across the face and knocking him out. Sasuke pulled the scabbard out from the strap around his hip and used it as a secondary weapon to block a sword coming down on him. The black-haired thief thrusted his scabbard into the man's hand and spun the blade out of his grip, disarming him.

Sauske kicked him in the stomach, before using an extra push to kick him across the face and block a second sword strike. Sasuke landed on his feet and raised his scabbard to block another blade before they started crossing weapons. Sasuke handled both men expertly with his _Vollmond Reflexion _in his right hand and the shotgun scabbard in his left.

The men were completely dumbfounded while they were held back by the teen's skilled moves. Sasuke pushed the blade off his scabbard, spun his blade in his hand and turned on his feet, cut one thug with the dull edge of his sword, turned around again and brought the hilt down on the hand of the last remaining swordsman. Disarmed, the robber could only watch as Sasuke flipped through the air and planted both his feet into the man's face.

With all visible enemies defeated, Sasuke landed on his feet, sheathed his sword again, and for good measure he cocked the fore-end that was closer to the hilt of his blade.

"D-don't move!"

Sasuke opened his eye and looked back at the fifth and last remaining guy of the group, nervously shaking while holding a sub-machine gun in his hand. He motioned towards the floor, "Put the sword-gun-um-scary weapon thing on the ground besides you! R-right now."

Sasuke blinked before he slowly started to comply. He switched the hand carrying his sheathed weapon and held it so the hilt was facing towards the armed robber. Sasuke slowly kneeled down and started placing it on the floor...before pulling the trigger and firing the sword at the robber at the speed of a bullet.

The hilt slammed into the gun, struck the thug in the center of his sternum, blew him off his feet and landed him a little space on the floor for him to rest unconsciously.

Sasuke looked around at his handiwork before shrugging, "That...actually went better than I thought it would."

And, as if fate was finally catching up, Sasuke heard the sounds of multiple guns behind cocked behind him.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

"THIS IS NOT GOING AS WELL AS I THOUGHT IT WOULD!" Naruto yelled to himself as he jumped over a dumpster and used a lamppost to make a sharp turn around a corner. Sprinting after the van for nearly an entire minute now, Naruto finally caught sight of the white vehicle before he turned another corner.

Naruto remembered the layout of the surrounding area and realized that the van would have to pass by two more buildings before being able to get on the freeway. The blond thief sprinted across the street and through an alley before he caught sight of a fire-escape just above his head. With amazing agility, Naruto jumped from platform to platform until he climbed his way up to the roof.

He peered over the edge and watched the white van swerve around the corner and come down the road directly underneath him. He took a step back, prepped himself for the impact, and jumped right over the edge.

The three robbers looked at their haul and checked if they were being followed. The one in the back yelled at the two in the front seats, "What happened?! Who were those two kids?! We didn't plan for this! We should've brought more knockout gas!"

The one driving just fearfully shook his head, "Oh man, Mr. Torchwick is not gonna be happy about this!"

"Where's the rest of them?! I don't see the other van!"

"Both of you calm down!" The guy in the passenger seat said as he gripped the suitcase closely to his chest, "We'll drop the Dust off in a safe place, go back to the warehouse, and make sure that-"

***THUMP***

"OW!"

The roof of the van indented when Naruto's full weight landed squarely in the center. He rubbed his head before realizing he had landed on his target and laughed, "Sweet!"

***Schwip***

The tip of a red blade popped out right in front of him after stabbing through the roof. Naruto leaned back as one of the robbers started shooting upwards. Naruto knocked on the roof, "Hey! That's dangerous! Keep doing that and -"

***Schwip***

Naruto looked down to see another sword had just barely missed severing his crotch by at least two inches. He clicked his teeth and grabbed the sword on his back, "Enough of this!" He started repeatedly stabbing the roof of the car, "STOP! STABBING! AT! ME!"

The van started to swerve and ram into the surrounding walls and buildings along the street. Naruto's meddling distracted the robbers and made them miss the turn into the freeway.

The blond struggled to keep his balance and held on tight to the sword stabbed into the van so that he didn't fall off. He realized that the thugs were ramming into the wall to try and knock him off so he prepared for a new course of action. He reached into his small pack and pulled out a thin piece of steel wire. He looped it through the hook at the end of _Stormer's _hilt and used it to hold him up as he jumped onto the side of the van.

When Naruto tried to grab the wheel of the van, the side door slid open and one of the thugs pulled out his red blade. Naruto let out a quick yelp before moving his feet and legs to dodge the sword from cutting into them.

When one of the man's swings was a bit too wide, Naruto pinned his wrist to the side of the van with his foot. With just a bit more pressure, the man flinched in pain and dropped his sword into the street. Naruto then proceeded to unleash a quick flurry of kicks to the man's stomach, sternum, cheek, cheek, hip, stomach, and chin before he fell back unconscious.

Naruto then tried to reach for the handle of the front door but barely dodged bullets piercing through the window. One of them scraped along his cheek and left a bloody gash before Naruto got fed up and punched the driver in anger, "PRICK!"

But after his little outburst, Naruto and the thug in the passenger's seat realized that their driver was unconscious and no one was left to steer the van. They looked between each other, and then looked forward to see the oncoming lamppost and wall.

Naruto pulled on the wire in his hand and dislodged his blade just in time to jump off and roll in the streets. The van broke through the lamppost and slammed into the wall, luckily losing most of its momentum from crashing into the street lamp.

Naruto lifted himself up and looked down to see a bloody gash running up the inside of his right arm and some skin hanging off what remained of his left knee. He hissed and covered his arm, "All things considered, this is pretty light to walk away from."

Naruto saw his blade _Stormer _lying on the sidewalk with the wire still around his palm. He pushed himself up on his feet and started making his way towards the van to take back the items he was asked to procure. But he heard one of the doors being kicked open and could see the gun-toting thug stumble around the crashed van with the suitcase held under his arm. He aimed his sub-machine gun at the blond, "Stop right there!"

Naruto raised one hand in the air, "Easy man. Your nerves are a little shot after the crash. You need to calm down and watch how you handle that thing."

"We were just supposed to take the Dust to Mr. Torchwick! This was supposed to be a quick in-and-out kinda job!" He motioned towards the wrecked van and the two groaning thugs inside it, "This! This is not in-and-out!"

"Yeah, believe me dude, things never really go the way you plan them."

The thug took a moment to look the blond teen over and noticed the blooded right sleeve and left knee. He thought this was his best chance to escape, "You're injured too so you can't stop us anymore! So here's what you're gonna do! Turn around, limp away, and never mention this to anyone ever again!"

"That sounds like a fair plan." Naruto nodded with a slight tilt in his head, "But...the thing is...there's a flaw in your logic..."

Naruto ducked and swiftly pulled on the wire in his hand, pulling _Stormer_ off the sidewalk and directly into his palm. He spun the blade so the hilt was facing forward and twisted the handle so the bottom opened up, shooting out a small hollow-tip arrow that impacted against the thug's chest and blew him into the side of the van.

Naruto spun his sword in his hand and stood back up before looking at his injuries, smirking at the sight of his now healed flesh, "I take game-breaking injuries like a champ."

The defeated thug groaned on the floor while clutching his chest, feeling like a truck just slammed squarely in his sternum. Naruto sympathized with the man while walking by his side, "Yeah, I know Shades, it hurts like a bitch. But you shouldn't have gotten between me and my mark."

Naruto broke the handcuff and pried the suitcase open to reveal a solid, raw red Dust Clump. He smirked and gently pulled the massive crystal out of the suitcase before smirking and holding it level with his face, "We win."

And then the sounds of dozens of tires screeching and guns cocking reached his ears.

He lowered the crystal out of his view and saw there were dozens of cop cars, armed cops, a SWAT van, and a helicopter surrounding him.

("We have you surrounded! Put the Dust and sword on the ground and then put your hands in the air!")

Naruto was absolutely speechless. Usually he had a snarky comment, quip, or joke to make, but he was just so surprised by the sudden appearance of Law Enforcement that he couldn't say anything.

In the corner of his eye, Naruto spotted Sasuke sitting in the back of a cop car. The black-haired teen was slowly shaking his head, telegraphing that their luck had finally run out and it was better not to fight it.

Naruto nervously waved, "Hey officers! I didn't see you there! But-um-I caught these guys!" Naruto pointed to the thugs in the van, "So, no problems there! Um-oh! I found this too!" Naruto pointed to the Dust in his hand, "Yeah, it looks kinda important so I thought it would be better to keep it safe with the rest of the stuff before you guys came!"

"...Do I get a reward?"

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

***Thump*Thump*Thump*Thump*Thump*Thump***

Nope. Ten minutes of solid head slamming against a metal table and Naruto could safely say this was not a bad dream.

The whiskered blond just rested his head on the metal table in the middle of the interrogation room in the police station. His eyes immediately locked on to the one-way mirror encompassing an entire section of the wall.

This was not how it was supposed to end.

He didn't really know how it was going to end, but being arrested and locked up was not his preferred last freedom.

He always had a gut feeling that told him that if he kept going down this path that it was going to end up like this. But he never believed it. They only ever did jobs like this to pay bills and feed themselves. They never hurt anyone. Or at least when they did, they knocked them out quick and easy so when they woke up all they had was a bad headache.

And he doubted there was going to be anyone to speak on his behalf. He was out of contact with his dad. He hadn't seen his mom in ages, and even if she did try to help him it would probably end in carnage. No friends. Amigos. Forced acquaintances. The only guy that Naruto had a real friendship with was probably in another room being questioned.

"Ughhhh...man, Sasuke's gonna be pissed when he sees me again. I can already hear it now..." Naruto cleared his throat before putting a little nasally tone in his voice, "_Naruto, I told you this job was going to be too dangerous._"

"Hey, it's not my fault some goons from some little backwater gang got the same idea as us! I just know we were gonna get in some serious trouble with Wilsk if we didn't deliver!"

_"Well that's what happens when you agree to work with a sociopath. And now you're under arrest and going to jail. I hope it was worth it."_

"Y'know Sasuke, in case you haven't noticed yet, you got arrested too! So you should just can the stuck-up asshole treatment and stop lecturing me!"

After a moment, Naruto had a smug look on his face for winning the argument with himself. Luckily for him, someone walked through the door and halted his slow descent into madness.

The man that walked in was a middle-aged, well-dressed gentleman with unruly grey hair and shaded glasses. He was wearing a black suit, a black vest, a green undershirt and a dark-green scarf. He was carrying a Scroll underneath his armpit and a mug of coffee in his hand.

Naruto blinked in confusion at the sight of the man. He didn't look like any policeman or detective he had ever seen before.

The grey-haired man walked over to the empty seat across from Naruto and say down. He placed his coffee mug on the table and started flipping through the information on the Scroll, "Naruto Uzumaki. Age:17. Sasuke Uchiha. Age:17. Apprehended at two sites where a large quantity of Dust was being stolen and transported. One in a warehouse owned by the Schnee Dust Company. Another, several blocks down the street in a van that crashed into the wall. From the items taken off your person we have a Scroll, a small belt pack containing at least 100ft of steel wire and smoke bombs, and one very sharp blade not usually found on a normal 'petty thief'."

Naruto lifted one foot to place on the table and motioned to his now shoeless feet, "Was it really necessary to take my boots too?"

"Was it really necessary to keep knives concealed in the heels of both boots?"

"Hmmm, touché."

"Under most circumstances, it would be written that you two were just passing-by before you tried to take the Dust and make off with it to sell for a good profit. But, after finishing the robbers' treatment before arresting them, they said you two were there to steal the Dust for yourselves. You then proceeded to defeat eight armed thugs by yourselves before the local Law Enforcement came on the scene. Also..." The older man brought up another file on the Scroll, "We have reports that two criminals matching your descriptions have been spotted in surrounding towns, committing Grand Theft Auto and minor counts of Larceny. With assumptions like this and the testimonies of the robbers, there could be a full out investigation on both of your involvements in this case."

Naruto had a scowl on his face while the calm gentleman continued to read off his Scroll and sum the two teenagers situation up nicely. He asked with some venom in his voice, "So why don't you just arrest us if you have so much faith in the evidence?"

"Because, I'm far more interested..." The man started swiping over the screen and pulled up a video before showing it to the bandana-wearing teen, "In this."

The video started playing and it showed Naruto flipping over cars, up buildings, maneuvering around the van for the best point to attack, and beating the last robber with the weapon hidden in the hilt of his blade. Naruto was confused and raised an eyebrow, "How the hell did you get all that footage?"

The man had a small smile, "You'd be surprised how much cameras can capture when a van starts swerving around madly in the middle of a street." He laid the Scroll on the table as it continued to play the footage, "Now there is no record of you having any formal training with any military group, contractor, or militia in the database. Where did you learn to do this?"

Naruto kept his lips sealed tight.

"Well then I'd like to know more about that weapon of yours. It's very well maintained. Sharp, sturdy, and practical for more than one use as you showed in that little demonstration of yours. And also, capable of firing these off rather spectacularly."

The man pulled out and evidence bag and showed it to the boy, revealing a small collapsible arrow with no tip that Naruto had fired off after the crash. He examined it closely, "Pressurized, high impact, hollow-point arrows. Strong. Devastating. And in the hand of an expert that knows where to correctly fire them, let's say in the center of the chest, they can be non-lethal but still pack quite a punch. And we found fifty of them compacted into your hilt with a device that shoots them one at a time by row."

He placed the bag next to the Scroll and leaned back in his chair, "They don't sell swords that fire off rounds like that in any weapon shop. You made this, correct? But not at one of the training academies, I'm guessing-"

"Okay, it's becoming clear to me that you're hinting at something and I'm gonna guess you ain't a cop." Naruto narrowed his eyes, "What do you want?"

The man sat forward and grabbed his coffee mug, "Just for clarity, do you know who I am?"

Naruto shook his head.

The middle-aged man nodded, "My name is Ozpin."

Naruto's eyes slowly started to widen before they almost looked like dinner plates. He sat up a little, "Ozpin? As in Professor Ozpin? Headmaster of Beacon Academy, Ozpin?"

"Oh, that's good. At least you know who I am." He raised his mug, "That saves us a little exposition."

"No, actually, I could you a little exposition." Naruto looked over the older man in confusion, "Like what the hell is a guy like you doing questioning some kid in a police station?"

Ozpin finished sipping from his mug and looked at the young blond, "I have many friends and connections throughout Remnant. Some I can request information from if I so need it. Enough information that I know a good deal about both you and your friend Sasuke Uchiha."

"Pfft." Naruto scoffed and crossed his arms, "You don't know anything."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Naruto's eyes widened, "Oh god you know everything."

Ozpin just nodded his head. He leaned forward, "I know the basic outlines of both of your histories. And considering what I know, that not only are able to work together but that you are actually friends, I am most impressed."

"Then...if you know our backgrounds..." Naruto inquired, "Why are you here?"

"Because one of the acts I can't stand most in the world is watching people with talents such as yours go to waste like this. And I don't wish to waste an opportunity to change that."

Ozpin looked at the young man, "I would like for you and Mr. Uchiha to come and join the next arrival of students for the new year at Beacon Academy. I've given Mr. Uchiha the same offer I'm giving you right now."

Naruto was shocked. Actually, the best term might have been gob-smacked. This was...this HAD to be a dream. Beacon was the dream school of any kid that wanted to become a Huntsmen or Huntress, someone who could change the world.

Naruto blinked, "I...I don't have any of the education needed to enter a school like that."

"It's a school, Mr. Uzumaki, its primary function is to help you learn what you need to know." He shrugged his shoulders, "To be fair, there may be a learning curve that will be difficult to overcome but not impossible."

Naruto furrowed his brow and seriously contemplated the consequences of what this decision could do.

"We may think differently, and you may be able to think of different solutions then I do, but from my point of view you only have three choices ahead of you." Ozpin looked into his coffee mug, "1) Accept my offer, try to overcome the odds, and hope for something good to come out of it. 2) Get locked up for any crimes you may have committed, serve your time, hope for parole, and pray you never drop the soap. Or 3) Try to knock me out, escape from this station without any weapons or footgear, and stay on the run for the rest of your life hoping you never get caught. Preferably, I'd try to stay away from number three."

He lowered his mug and looked into the whiskered boy's blue eyes, "I can't promise you a future Mr. Uzumaki. I can't even promise you that I know which choice would be better for you. But I implore you...make a decision that would benefit you and your future."

Naruto blinked...and leaned back into his chair...

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

The intercom rang, ("Students, we will soon be arriving in the City of Vale. And we will be docking at Beacon Academy soon after.")

Naruto had his arms thrown over the railing and was hanging off it like a rag doll as he looked out the window at the beautiful landscape. Instead of his normal jumpy self, the blond felt rather confused about what was going to happen next.

"Geez, you look like you just had all your teeth pulled out with a toothpick and a rusty spoon." Sasuke said as he walked up and leaned against the railing besides the blond, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I mean, getting a chance to attend Beacon is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but this...feels weird." He looked up at the black-haired boy, "Does this feel weird?"

"A little." Sasuke agreed with a minor shrug before looking out the window, "But getting a chance in Beacon...I don't think there's anything in the world better than that. Plus, I think anything is better than working on the streets for criminal bosses and gangs to get a quick buck."

Naruto was silent for a moment, "That Ozpin guy knew who we were. At least he said he did. What if he's trying to get leverage over something? What should we do if this goes south?"

Sasuke thought about that possibility and shook his head, "We won't let it."

A television broadcast being shown on the side screen turned to static before the image of a pretty blonde woman in a white suit, black skirt and cape appeared for everyone around them. She greeted them, ("Hello, and welcome to Beacon!")

Naruto asked, "Who's that?"

("My name is Glynda Goodwitch.")

"Oh."

Glynda continued, ("All of you here are a prestigious few that have proven that you are ready for the next step by attending our academy. This is a time of peace and tranquility that we must not let escape, so we hope to put our futures in the hands of capable Huntsmen and Huntresses such as yourselves. The future road may be hard and perilous, but we have faith that you may not only find strength in yourself but others as well. And until that time has come, we will do whatever possible to provide you with the knowledge and skill needed. We eagerly await your arrival...and welcome to Beacon.")

The hologram disappeared and some of the students started talking between each other. Naruto chuckled, "Geez, if that doesn't put a weight on your shoulders nothing will."

"It probably won't be so bad." Sasuke countered, "There's probably a few people that have it worse off then others."

"Like who?"

"O-oh god! I-I can't!" They looked over to see a boy their age with scruffy blond hair cover his mouth and step away from the window. He stumbled and desperately made a run for a garbage can.

Sasuke pointed towards the barfing young man, "Him, for example."

"Fair point."

"We're going to be landing soon. Be prepared." Sasuke patted Naruto's shoulder before walking off to look out a different window. Naruto just stared out as the City of Vale appeared underneath them and Beacon Academy appeared just in their sights.

Here we go. A whole new life.

"Oh gross, it got on your shoes!"

"Gross! Gross! Gross! Gross!"

"Ew-Yang, no! Get away! Keep your barf covered shoes away from me!"

"I need your cape! I gotta wipe it off!"

"Ew no! You aren't using my cape to wipe off your nasty shoes! I like my cape as is!"

"I'm your sister!"

"My barf covered sister!"

Yep. A whole new life.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

_**Done**_

_**This is just an experiment. To see if I could write for a show like RWBY and try deviating from other stories like the ones I've written already, I don't know how but I may think of it further down the road.**_

_**Please, before any of you start PMing me, sending flames, or just plain start arguing about Sasuke being in the series, he isn't the Sasuke from the show or other fics. I can't promise a similar Sasuke to the canon won't appear in some of my other stories, but this one is definitely not him.**_

_**All other Sasukes that appear in the stories I've read are portrayed as asshole, emo, dark avenger, arrogant, ignorant, self-indulgent...the list goes on.**_

_**But I'm gonna try this to give him another chance. He doesn't have the baggage of saving a clan. He doesn't have the trauma of watching his brother slay everyone he loves and cares about in a single night. None of that 'destined for hatred and loneliness because of your family and Indra' crap. **_

_**If people start complaining that a Sasuke that isn't like that might as well be an OC, then boo-fucking-hoo, I guess that's that. And I don't wanna hear about it.**_

_**Anyway, getting back on track, these two have lives they're trying to diverge from and a certain awesome training school might be their ticket out.**_

_**If we go further in and I think I want to change the rating, I'll change it to M.**_

_**I hope you enjoy.**_

_**ReadxReview**_

_**Thank You and Bye**_


	2. Welcome to Beacon

Hunting or Bust

Dust 2: Welcome to Beacon

For the last few weeks, all I've heard from friends and co-workers is that the Guardians Of The Galaxy movie was gonna suck. A ridiculous talking raccoon? A living tree? How it was just gonna try too hard to be a Star Wars rip-off.

I was more than overjoyed that after I saw it, I then invited each of them to suck and or lick it.

Seriously, go watch it. No hesitation. No second thoughts. It's good. Not just as a Marvel movie but a summer movie in general.

The only complaint I would give is that several days after seeing it and I've still got all that 70's and 80's music in my head.

(Come and get your love, come and get your love, Come and get your love now~)

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

Several large airships carefully docked on a platform that partially lead off a cliff just outside of the massive school structure that was Beacon Academy. Their thrusters and wings folded into the side and changed into a hovering function so that the oncoming students could arrive.

One airship slowly started opening its doors-

"Oh god! Oh god!" The scraggly blond boy stumbled and forced himself out the door and barely made it to the trashcan. He heaved, "***BLARGH*!*BLARGH*!**"

The rest of the students calmly made their way out while doing their damnedest not to bring attention to the vomiting young man.

Naruto scratched the bandana on his head and let out a sigh of relief, "I'm glad that's over. That was probably the most uncomfortable trip I've ever had."

Sasuke did his best not to show any weakness or gag but still had his nose covered to avoid the smell. He swiped the air around him, "It was starting to get hot and...rancid in there."

Naruto stretched his arms out and looked around at their surroundings. Hundreds of teenaged students making their way out of the ships and towards the huge school building. That was a school? It was like a landmark castle!

"Okay, so, what do we do now?"

Sasuke looked at a pamphlet he took before the ship departed, "It says that before the orientation in the main presentation hall, we should go and check out our luggage so they can take it to the school." Sasuke reached into his pocket and held his other hand out towards Naruto, "Here, give me your ticket."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he pulled the ticket out of his vest pocket. He handed it to his friend, "Why?"

"So I can go check off our stuff." Sasuke motioned to the surrounding area, "Why don't you-I don't know-explore. Look around. Socialize. Meet new people."

"Ughhhhhhhh..." Naruto groaned in despair, "But that's awkward, boring, and annoying as hell.'

"Then you'd better get started." Sasuke walked away and waved behind his back, "See you later."

Naruto sighed before standing up straight and looking around at all the new arrivals. So these were the best of the best that had to offer their skills towards being Huntsmen and Huntresses. He had to admit that he was kinda excited at the chance to see what this life had to offer.

Despite the expected free admission to Beacon, both Naruto and Sasuke had to go through separate tests to prove themselves worthy to be accepted. And while the test wasn't the most difficult experience in the world, it certainly wasn't easy.

All of these people passed a test that was the same or at least very similar to the one he did. But unlike him, all of them had studied, practiced, and trained for numerous years to enter a place like this. There were probably a few people here that would give him a run for his money.

No, there might be a few people here that would straight up plant his ass in the ground.

Naruto grinned at the thought. He couldn't help it, this was getting interest-

"***BLARGH*!**"

This was get-

"***BLARGH*!**"

This-

"***BLARRRRRRgghhhhhhhhh***, ughhhhhhh, why a big ship? Why?"

Naruto slumped his shoulders and realized that the whole 'enjoying the scenery' thing probably wasn't going to be appropriate with all the barfing and retching happening just a few feet away from him.

The young man supported himself by holding on to the side of the trashcan while he tried to find his bearings once again. He wiped his mouth, "If-ugh-if I knew we were gonna come here by ship like this, I probably would've preferred walking." He panted for a moment before shaking his head, "That's not true. I don't like walking long distances like that. Makes me uncomfortable."

The blond lad felt someone pat his back and raised his head in surprise. He looked up to see another boy wearing a gold bandana with strange markings on his cheeks standing besides him, "It's all right man, we're all feeling a little nervous. There's no shame in that."

The former retching blond actually felt a little touched that someone would assist him while he was figuratively spewing his guts. The young man stood up, revealing the black hoodie, white chest plate, and blue jeans he wore with a white scabbard on the side. He gave a weak smile and nodded, "T-thanks. I-um-didn't think anyone would actually pay me any mind after I started throwing up all over the deck."

"Yeah, well, there are others ways to make a worse first impression. Not many but there definitely are." The whiskered blond held out his hand, "I'm Naruto."

"Oh." The other blond took the welcome to shake his hand, "It's nice to meet you Naruto. I'm Jaune. And-well..." Jaune awkwardly motioned to the trashcan, "Don't get me wrong, I'm nervous, but that wasn't actually why I was throwing up."

"It wasn't?" Naruto raised his brow in confusion and tilted his head, "Then why were you throwing up?"

"Because I really can't stand transportation." Jaune deflated a little, "It's a problem I've had since I was a kid. When I was riding in a car. Or a plane. Or a fast roller-coaster. Or even if I think about a bad experience when I-" The color started fading from his face and he started wavering, "O-oh no, not again!"

Jaune covered his mouth and turned around before he started barfing into the trashcan again. Naruto just stood there in surprise and stared at his new acquaintance as he hurled into the can. The whiskered blond probably wasn't expecting someone like this to be the first person he interacted with in Beacon but hey...some things were just unpredictable.

"***BLARGH***"

Naruto shook his head, "Geez man, how much did you eat?"

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

"Woahhhhhhhhhhh~!"

Aside from the two blond men outside the ship, most of the other students arriving were using this chance to take in the sight of Beacon and prepare themselves for their future.

This young lady though...

"He was carrying a collapsible staff! A-and she's carrying a fire blade with an electric attachment! Oh! Oh! That guy just had a stick and ball but I bet they do something cool!"

The girl that was almost drooling at the sight of weapons was younger than most of the other students arriving in Beacon. Two years younger actually. She had black hair with shades of red along the strands with one section of her hair going all the way down to her chin. She wore a black dress with a skirt and red undertones. Along with a long red cape secured to her shoulders with silver crosses and boots. Her skin was almost pale white and her eyes were a beautiful color of silver. Her name was Ruby Rose.

"Did they make those? O-or maybe they were purchased or passed down!" Ruby was almost bouncing in place at the sight of all the cool new weapons she was seeing for the first time. Her legs started kicking up the ground beneath her, "I've got to ask them where they got them!"

"Woah woah woah!" A hand grabbed the top of Ruby's cape and stopped the excited young girl from storming off so quickly.

Ruby slumped her shoulders and looked up at her big sister. Despite how different the two of them appeared, these two really were sisters. Or at least half-sisters. Her name was Yang Xiao Long

Where Ruby was short, Yang was fairly tall for a girl her age. She had long, messy blonde hair with random curls and cowlicks down the side and she had lilac eyes. She wore a brown vest with a yellow low-cut crop top and an orange scarf wrapped around her neck. She wore black shorts with a half-pleated skirt in the back along with platform boots and around each wrist was a golden bracelet. And while Ruby was still going through the arduous task of puberty, Yang had...finished filling out in certain places.

Yang placed Ruby back down on her feet and shook her head, "Okay sis, you really need to control that little switch in your head that goes all psycho weapon lover. Do the breathing thing dad taught you to calm down."

"But Yang-"

"Breathe."

Ruby just sighed before she forced herself to take deep breathes in and long breathes out. After a moment, Ruby's momentary exuberance faded and she looked up at her sister.

Yang asked, "Feeling better?"

"I feel lightheaded."

"That's code for better." Yang put her hands on her hips before admonishing her little sister, "Listen, I know you're excited, but not everybody is going to jump at the idea of explaining and examining weapons with a girl that just runs up to them out of nowhere."

"Yeah, that always the problem, isn't it?" Ruby sighed dejectedly, "All these cool new weapons I'm seeing for the first time and I have to talk to strangers and new people to see them."

Yang shook her head, "See, it's talk like that that makes people think you're anti-social."

"I'm not anti-social!" Ruby argued before looking off to the side, "I just...y'know...avoid situations where I have to talk with new people." Ruby looked up to see Yang's condescending smile aimed at her and glared in return, "Shut up. Besides, I'm happy with just me, _Crescent Rose_, _Ember Celica_, and you; my great, loyal, and trustworthy big sister."

"Yeah~..." Yang wrapped one arm around her precious little sister before scratching her cheek, "About that~..."

"What?"

"My friends from my school are here and we're gonna go look around! Might be gone a while! Probably won't be able to walk around with you!" Yang spun Ruby around before running off to join her friends, "Be safe okay I love you bye!"

"Wait! Yang! What happened?! Where are we?! Where's left and right?! Is this real life?!" Ruby stopped spinning for a moment and held her head to get her balance before she saw Yang run off with a bunch of old friends. Ruby felt betrayed.

She scrunched up her nose and waved her arms, "Fine! You-you go and hang out with your real friends! You know what I'm gonna do now?! I'm going to go cry! You did this Yang! I hope you're happy with yourself! You made your little sister cry! That's gonna stick on your conscience forever!" Ruby started fake wailing and kept periodically looking over her shoulder while running away, "Wahhhh! Wahhhh! Wa-"

***SLAM***

Ruby ran into multiple objects, slamming them off their platform and falling forward until she landed face-first in the ground. She lifted herself up and rubbed her nose with little tears in her eyes, "Ow~. What the-"

Ruby looked around at all the white luggage that surrounded her. There were stray pieces of clothing, towels, and several containers with different colored substances in them. Ruby eyes landed on a red one lying by her hand and looked it over before popping its cap, "What's this?"

"What in the world do you think you're doing?!"

At the sound of the loud voice being aimed at her, Ruby jumped to her feet in an instant and went rigid like a statue.

The girl standing in front of her had her hands on her hips and a scowl aimed at the young red girl. She stood at about the same height as Ruby, with an off center ponytail containing her long white hair and icy blue eyes that nearly pierced Ruby's soul. She wore a bolero jacket with a red inside collar that led down to blue undertones in her sleeves. Like Ruby, she also wore a skirt and boots to give herself some extra height.

The white-haired girl reprimanded the cowering Ruby, "Is this your first action at arriving in a prestigious school like Beacon?! Is this a hobby?! Knocking people's luggage and personal belongings on the floor and then rummaging through them?! Don't you have any decency?!" The snooty girl took a moment from her yelling to see the the black and red-haired girl was holding one of her Dust viles in her hands. She snatched it back with a sharp edge in her voice, "Were you trying to take these from me?! If you want Dust you should try buying some for yourself! It's not that hard to find! There's a shop selling this stuff on every block!"

Ruby was getting confused and disoriented, "I was-um-we-I-Yang was-um...huh?"

"Dust! My Dust! Were you trying to take it?!" She started pointing to the vile in her hand and some of its contents started spreading in the air, "This is Dust with a fire affinity! Do you know what that means?! It means that if it is not contained and moved properly, it can be extremely volatile and dangerous! I don't know how things work in whatever little town you may have been raised in, but to me, that's a very stupid move to pull!"

Ruby's face started to twitch, "I-I-"

"What? Do you having something to say for yourself? If you do, spit it out now!"

Ruby's nose was reacting to all the red Dust in the air around her. And with a mighty blow-

"ACHOO!"

***BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM***

Everyone within several hundred feet looked in the same direction as they saw an explosion and the resulting mushroom cloud raise from the ground.

Ruby rubbed her nose after the loud and explosive sneeze she just had. She opened her eyes again and saw the damage she caused, covering her mouth in horror, "Oh no."

The white girl that was just yelling at Ruby was now completely covered in black ash and soot. The only thing that was still clean on her were the surprised little blues eyes that blinked open. She wiped the ash off her face to reveal a red face brimming with fury, "You...you..."

"You insufferable little child! You could have killed us both! Do you have any self control or brain power to think of your actions before hand!"

Ruby was shaking a little, "O-oh yeah, well-um...you're not nice and you use a lot of words."

"I don't have to be nice to some random girl combing through my belongings and nearly blowing us up!"

"Hey, you were the one waving that Dust around all willy-nilly." Ruby defended herself after she was sick of being put on the spot by the white-haired girl, "Who are you anyway?"

"I think she's Weiss Schnee."

Before either of them could say anything else, a third voice interjected on their argument.

They both looked over to see a tall girl with wavy black hair going down her back with a bow on top and amber eyes. She wore black boots and stockings that were purple around her feet before turning black when they ended at her thighs. Around her chest was a white undershirt and a black buttoned vest with a short scarf around her neck. In one hand was a book with a finger placed where she left off and in the other was one of Weiss' Dust viles.

The black-haired girl looked down at the Dust in her hand, "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest Dust mining companies, Dust selling companies, and energy propellant companies in the whole world."

Weiss felt a sense of smug pride grow while she crossed her arms and looked at Ruby slowly shrink down, "That's right."

"Also very well known for questionable business partners, shady handlings, controversial labor forces, and increasing levels of capital robbery."

"That's righ-Hey!" Weiss threw her arms to her side and yelled in protest, "That is just false persecution and slander!"

"I don't mean any offense by that." The black-haired girl held out the Dust vile, "I'm just telling you what I've heard."

Weiss was nearly fuming and wanted to argue furiously with both this new girl and Ruby. But after swallowing the lump in her throat, Weiss just glared at the taller black-haired girl before taking the Dust with a swipe of her hand and walking away.

Weiss then turned around and walked back towards them, just to place her belongings back on her cart and wheel it away.

"Um-Weiss-I'm sorry we met so...explosively!" Ruby shouted towards the retreating girl, "I promise to make it up to, and maybe then you and I can talk...and be friends...and act like I didn't just blow her up." Ruby kept getting quieter until it was just a whisper and she palmed her face, "I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot and I want to disappear."

Ruby decided that she could at least show gratitude to her eleventh hour savior, "Hey, I know that was a weird situation but thanks for-she's already gone."

Ruby watched the cool bow wearing girl walk away and down the path. Ruby deflated even more and just hung her head while a black cloud rained down on her, "Great job Ruby, really. Ten minutes since arriving at Beacon and you've made a rich heiress mad and scared off a super cool girl that had your back. Uhhhhhhhhh..."

Ruby stood their wallowing in her misery...

"Wow, you were right Jaune. Someone was in the middle of that explosion."

"Told you."

Ruby lifted her head and looked behind her at the new voices. She saw two taller blond boys standing besides each other, one was wearing a bandana and looking around at the soot surrounding them while the other was facing Ruby.

The boy in armor asked, "Are you okay?"

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

Pyrrha Nikos was looking around the campus of Beacon and just taking a moment to enjoy the sights. She was probably lost and going in the wrong direction of wherever she was supposed to be heading but she didn't mind in the least.

She was a pretty girl with her long red hair tied in a pony-tail and strong emerald eyes. She wore a strapless tan v-shirt under a leather top split down the middle. Along with her skirt, boots, and red drapery tied around her waist were pieces of armor on her legs and arms.

Pyrrha swung her arms around a little and enjoyed the fresh air the little grove had to offer before she looked around, "I should probably try and make my way to the main presentation hall. And I should try and find Weiss as well. She's probably looking for me and it'd be nice to see a familiar face here."

While Pyrrha was taking a moment to recognize her surroundings, she heard a notice followed by a dull thud.

***Schwip***

Pyrrha almost felt her ears perk up at the sound of metal stabbing into wood. The pattern continued to repeat itself and Pyrrha started following it to try and figure out what was going on.

When Pyrrha came around a corner, there was a girl standing in front of several trees with brown hair done up in two buns at the back of her head. She wore a white blouse with sleeves so baggy they nearly contained both her hands with the symbol of two circles with a line going through both of them on the back. She wore red puffy pants and blue sandals to complete her wardrobe.

The girl's focus was completely set on the targets in front of her and she raised her hand again, the sleeve dropping to her elbow and revealing a throwing knife held upside-down between her fingers. She narrowed her eyes, exhaled slowly, and threw the knife with a flick of her wrist. The knife imbedded itself directly in the center of the tree, alongside dozens of similar knives with only millimeters of space between each other.

Pyrrha looked at the action in amazement as the girl took out a second knife to throw. Pyrrha took a step forward and spoke up, "H-hello."

The twin-bun girl looked over to see Pyrrha walking towards her and smiled, "Oh, hello." Without even looking she threw the knife again and struck close to the other knives she had already thrown, "I didn't know I was being watched."

Pyrrha gave a small wave, "Yes. I didn't mean to intrude or break your concentration. It's just I was interested in what was happening over here."

"Oh don't worry..." She threw another knife and hit her target, "It's gonna take a lot more than that to break my concentration."

"I noticed." Pyrrha looked between the girl and the tree and felt her intrigue start to grow, "Can I ask why you're practicing now? Unless you have a grudge with the tree."

"Heh, no, me and this tree don't have any hard feelings towards each other." The knife throwing expert pulled another knife from her sleeve and looked at it for a moment before getting back in her stance, "It's just that I've already checked out my luggage and the orientation isn't happening for awhile so I decided to get some practice in while I could."

Pyrrha looked over at the tree riddle with knives and tilted her head, "Are you sure you need to practice? It looks like you've got it down to a fine art."

"Yeah, well practice makes perfect. And practice after that makes permanent." She took a moment to fiddle with one of her knives with a thoughtful gaze before looking up at the red-head, "Plus I need all the practice I can get to be good with all my weapons."

Pyrrha blinked in surprise, "Wow, did you make multiple weapons to use in the field?"

"Actually..." She looked at Pyrrha and shrugged her shoulders, "I don't have a personalized weapon."

"What?"

"Yeah. As it turns out, I'm not all that great with the whole creation of weapons." The girl started flipping the knife in her hand, "My mom and dad are both hunters that opened a weapons shop to help kids going into training school create their weapons. So of course I took the first chance I could to make a weapon. But, as it turns out, I didn't have the natural hand to make one. I put too much gunpowder in the barrel. I accidentally made the metal too weak to stand up against strikes. I can't even go into how many times I blew up messing with an incendiary change."

She caught the knife firmly before immediately throwing it into the tree and smiling at the red-head, "So I chose a different route. If I couldn't make a weapon then I would master every weapon. Put something in my hand and I can find a way to kick anybody's butt with it. Not to brag or anything."

"Hmm..." Pyrrha hummed in agreement before smiling towards the girl, "I think that is very admirable. Not many people would have the courage to keep trying if they were faced with such a hurdle. That shows strong resolve and character not many would present."

"Thanks." The two girls smiled at each other before the bun-haired girl looked back towards the tree, "I'm Tenten Tamura by the way."

Pyrrha smiled, "I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

"WHAT?!"

Tenten looked towards Pyrrha at the last moment after throwing the knife and missed her mark-

Some random guy screamed, "AH! MY ARM! OH GOD WHY!"

Tenten ran up to Pyrrha with stars in her eyes, "Are you really 'that' Pyrrha Nikos?! Oh man, you really are! I don't know why I didn't recognize you sooner!" Tenten grabbed Pyrrha's hands and started shaking them, "Ms. Nikos, I'm a huge fan! I remember watching your campaign in your second Mistral Regional Torunament! Me and my folks and everyone in my town were cheering for you to win! You were just amazing!"

Tenten's grip on Pyrrha's hands was so strong the powerful gladiator almost felt like her arms were going to fall off. She nervously laughed, "T-thank you for your support. But you don't have to call me Ms. Nikos. I'd be honored if you just called me Pyrrha."

"Really?" Tenten was gleaming with joy at being able to meet one of the strongest and coolest girls of their generation. She let go of Pyrrha's hands and coughed into her hand before trying to regain some of her calm, "Well then, Pyrrha, if there's anything you need from me, please don't hesitate to ask."

"I'm glad you said that." Pyrrha stood besides Tenten and took out her pamphlet, "It says that we're supposed to all meet in the main presentation hall, but I'm kind of lost. Could you-"

"Oh, don't worry." Tenten pointed ahead, "I remember the way. I'll show you. Just let me grab my stuff." Pyrrha watched as Tenten stepped over to the tree and started pulling the dozens of knives out of the bark.

Something finally clicked in Pyrrha's head, "Where...where do you keep all of those?"

Tenten looked back and smirked, "Trade secret."

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

"Hey Cardin, I found it! This is where all the luggage is!"

"Finally!" An extremely tall boy with combed back orange hair and wearing armor sighed exhaustingly. He marched in, "It's the first day of arrivals! You'd think they could at least put up signs or directions for us!"

Sasuke walked past the much taller and less excited man after he checked both his and Naruto's luggage. Now all that was left was to be there for orientation, dinner, and then bed.

It would probably be a good idea to go find Naruto and make sure he wasn't in any trouble. On the other hand...it was much funnier to watch him squirm his way out of a situation.

Sasuke rounded a corner and passed by a girl with black hair and a bow. They walked several feet away from each other before they noticed something running down their spines.

The bow-wearing girl almost went rigid and slowly turned her head to look over at the boy standing still just a bit away from her.

Sasuke pulled himself out of the sudden stillness and continued making his way back to the center of the campus.

She looked back and watched the raven-haired boy walk out of sight. What...was that feeling? It felt...cold. Eerie. Threatening. But familiar. Like...

It was an instinct...to stay away from that man.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

"Hey Ren, how do you think they move and sort all our luggage? I heard that stuff like that is moved by dwarves and gnomes. Do you think Beacon hired dwarves and gnomes to sort through all the new arrivals' luggage? Or maybe they stay here full time and help with the paperwork. Could you imagine little dwarves and gnomes dressed in business suits? Hehe, they'd look so funny. Oh, I hope they don't go through our stuff. I hope they don't go through our underwear. Do you think we could be dealing with underwear dwarves Ren? Or worse, underwear gnomes?"

"Nora, I really doubt the staff hired dwarves and gnomes in suits to search through our underwear and luggage."

"You're right." The ginger-haired girl with the mismatched clothes stopped in place for a moment before a bigger smile took its place, "It must be robots!"

The boy in the green long-sleeved tailcoat just sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He only had himself to blame for thinking he could rationalize with his childhood friend.

Nora had basically been jumping off the walls the entire trip up to Beacon. To be fair she was usually always jumping off the walls but this time she was also very excited about seeing their new school.

Ren decided to try and warn his best friend about making too much trouble, "Listen Nora, this is still a new place and we don't know anyone yet, so it might be better for us to stick together for awhile. At least until after orientation. Then we..."

She was never this quiet for this long.

Ren turned around and saw that his friend was nowhere in sight. He grew concerned, "Nora?"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU CRAZY GIRL?!"

Nevermind. Found her.

Nora was looking up at the taller boy with the wild hair, "I thought dogs like to be pet. Don't you want pets?"

"I'M NOT A DOG!" The boy arguing in protest was a tall young man with unruly brown hair spiking up in every direction and very pronounced canine teeth, almost like fangs. His nails were very sharp and down his cheeks were red markings that almost looked like fangs as well.

Nora stayed quiet for a moment before asking, "Then why do you look like a dog? And smell like one too?"

"I just look like this all right! And the dog smell is my dogs back home!" He pulled on his faded green jacket and pointed at it, "They were rolling in my stuff before I went! It's not me!"

"If you like dogs so much then why are you angry?"

"BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE BEING PETTED!"

"Nora!"

"Hey Ren!" Nora waved to her friend before pointing to the fuming stranger, "I met someone new! He likes dogs but doesn't like being pet! But I think I saw him thumping his leg for a moment when I was scratching his hair."

The boy reached behind him and pulled out a handle that started to mechanically fold out into a red and black tonfa. He snarled his teeth-

"Woah! Woah! Hold on a second!" Ren got between the boy and his adventurous friend and tried to mediate the situation, "Listen, um..."

"Kiba."

"Kiba. My name is Ren. And my friend here is Nora." Ren spoke in a calm manner, "I'm sorry about any offense or misunderstandings that she might have cause you. She's a bit peculiar...and can't really control her enthusiasm. I swear she didn't mean to bring attention to your Faunus tendencies or insult you in any way."

"I'm not a Faunus. I'm just..." Kiba motioned to his whole outer look and shrugged, "Kinda wild lookin' I guess."

"Oh." Ren thought for a moment before shaking his head and focusing again, "Even so, it was rude and inappropriate for her to...pet you. Nora, why don't you apologize to Kiba and-"

"She's gone."

"What?"

"She left awhile ago."

Ren looked behind him to see that the joyful orange-haired girl was gone. They heard a cheerful laugh and looked up to see Nora balancing on the side of the fountain and kicking the water.

Kiba scratched his chin and patted Ren's shoulder, "Hey man, I'm not trying to be mean or disrespectful, but you might wanna think about putting her on a leash."

Ren rubbed his face and shook his head, "No. Leashes wouldn't work on Nora. Her parents tried to keep her tied up like that when she was a kid and she dragged them down the street." Ren looked down at his feet, "She bit through the cone as well."

Kiba looked at the girl dancing in the fountain before giving Ren a sympathetic look, "That's a helluva girlfriend to live with."

"It's not like that."

"Pfft, yeah right."

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

"It was so scary. She was loud. And she kept using big words. A-and I don't think she took a second to breathe during the whole thing." Ruby sulked while taking a quick sip from her Udder Satisfaction drink before looking at the two boys sitting with her on the bench, "I'm not overreacting, right?"

"No. I mean, I don't think so." Jaune swished his You're F-ed protein drink around before looking at Ruby with wry smile, "Then again you did blow her up. So...there's that."

Ruby just hung heard head and lightly sobbed, "Oh geez..."

"Don't worry." Jaune and Ruby looked over at Naruto as he popped open a second can of People Like Grapes Soda and gave them a reassuring smile, "Some girls may act tough and callous but on the inside they just want a friend they can trust. Give it some time and I'm sure you and her will come around."

Ruby brightened up at the idea before looking at Naruto in hope, "You think so?"

Naruto took a quick swig from his drink before looking at the younger girl, "I have no idea. I don't know any girls."

"Uhhhhhh..." Ruby groaned and hung her head forward until she fell off the bench and laid face-down on the ground.

Jaune looked over at Naruto dryly, "Great job man."

"Sorry. But just give it some time. Problems need to be fixed at their own pace."

Ruby weakly pulled herself back up in her seat and gave a solemn nod, "Yeah, okay." She then looked at the two boys sitting besides her and decided to make conversation, "So...Jaune, Naruto...are you guys brothers?"

The two blond boys looked between each other before shaking their heads, "No."

"Oh." Ruby was actually surprised the guys with identical hair and eyes weren't related, "Sorry. It's just you kinda look alike."

"Well as far as I know we aren't related." Jaune contiuned, "Actually I only met Naruto a little while ago. After we got off the ship."

Naruto sat up a little, "Well I just thought some poor guy literally throwing up his organs right after landing could've used a little help."

Ruby perked up a little and looked at Jaune while giggling, "That was you!"

Jaune tried to defend himself, "I-I was a little woozy after getting off the ship! And I don't think I was 'literally' throwing up my organs!"

"Jaune. I was there. I stood next to you. Believe me, you were. In fact..." Naruto held up his can of grape soda, "Take this."

Jaune raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"To help with your breath."

Jaune's eyes widened and he breathed into his hand to catch a whiff of his breath. He sighed and took Naruto's drink before gulping it all down to give his breath a better scent.

While Jaune chugged the drink, Naruto looked towards the younger girl, "Hey Ruby, try not to take any offense to this, but aren't you a little too young to be attending Beacon?"

Ruby laughed and nodded her head, "Yep. I'm 15 years old."

The older boys looked at her in amazement with Jaune being the first to comment, "Woah! You got accepted into Beacon 2 years early! That's-that's amazing!"

"Yeah..." Ruby felt sheepish and looked down at her boots, "I guess you could say that."

Naruto noticed the hesitation when she said that, "But...you don't think it's all that great?"

"I think I'm lucky to be accepted into the best school ever. I just didn't want it to happen when I'm so different from everyone else." Ruby started pouring her heart out, "I mean people are gonna see a girl younger than them in the school they worked so hard to get into and they'll think; 'Oh, she thinks she's so special!' Or 'Oh, she's thinks she's so much better than us!' Or even 'Oh, it's that weird girl that got special treatment!'" Ruby sulked, "Do you know how horrible it is to be in a place you haven't earned your place in?"

Naruto looked forward, "I've got some idea."

Jaune looked down at his drink, "It's not that hard to think about."

Ruby then looked off with a pout, "And even though I feel all confused and freaked out, my darling big sister just left me alone to be with her friends."

"You think that's bad?" Naruto glared forward, "The only real friend I've got jumped at the chance to ditch me so he can 'check the luggage.' And I know he should've been done by now."

"At least you guys have people to ditch you." Jaune hung his head, "I'm all alone in a brand new school...and I threw up everywhere."

...

Naruto realized something, "Our first day here sucks."

"Yep."

"No argument there."

The three unfortunate friends all hung their heads as a very large rain cloud poured down on them.

Ruby tried to find a silver lining, "Well, at least I've still got _Crescent Rose _with me. That helps calm my nerves a little."

The boys looked up, "What's a _Crescent Rose_?"

"Only the coolest, most awesome weapon in the whole wide world!" Ruby handed Jaune her drink, causing the blond klutz to fumble and nearly drop all three drinks before Naruto took two of them to save the mess. Ruby stood in front of them and took something off her back, "Tada!"

From behind her back, the small girl pulled out a massive red and black scythe the popped into place with a mechanical hiss until its massive blade imbedded itself in the ground.

"Woah!"

"This is _Crescent Rose_! My personal High-Caliber Sniper-Scythe!" She grabbed the bolt and popped a round out of the chamber before smirking, "Watch yourselves guys. She's a biter."

"That thing's like twice your size!" Naruto remarked, stars in his eyes at the absolutely badass weapon the younger girl possessed. Ahhhhhhh...he wanted to hold it so bad~.

"Yeah. The recoil's so strong I actually use it to bounce around during training."

"That's awesome!" Jaune looked at the girl and her weapon in disbelief before laughing, "I think I know why you were accepted so early now."

"Yeah~, maybe." Ruby stroked her lovable weapon before asking, "What about you guys? What do you have?"

"My weapon's with my luggage." Naruto said with a disappointed tone at not being able to show off his weapon as well, "I didn't want to raise any suspicion by carrying it on me so I packed it with my other stuff. Kinda wishing I didn't do that."

"Well that sucks."

"Yeah." Naruto opened his hands to reveal two little black knives with rounded grips, "All I've got with me are these."

Ruby's and Jaune's eyes widened in shock at how he nearly pulled those out of thin air. Jaune asked, "Where did those come from?!"

Naruto nonchalantly lifted up his foot to reveal the heel of his boots were hollow.

Ruby looked at Naruto in shock, "You keep two concealed knives in your boots? Like, all the time?"

Naruto just nodded.

Ruby had stars in her eye, "Awwwwww~, that's so cool!"

"Yeah, I know." Naruto said with a smug tone in his voice while he twirled the knives in his hands for extra effect.

"What are their names?"

"Their what now?"

"Their names?" Ruby asked, "They have names right?"

"No. They're just some extra knives I've got hidden. They don't need-"

"Of course they need names!" Ruby said passionately while pointing at Naruto, "Our weapons are an extension of ourselves. Even knives like those are still a part of you! They deserve the same kinda love as your main weapon! It's like picking a favorite child! You just don't!"

Naruto was silent after being yelled at by the short girl before he looked at the knives in his hands. He thought for a moment...

Right: "This one's _Stabby_."

Left: "This one's _Cutty_."

Ruby looked at him with a flat stare, "Really?"

He smirked before looking towards the last member of their little gang, "What about you Jaune?"

"Well...nothing special like hidden knives or...knifles." Jaune said in a defeated tone before he reached to his scabbard and pulled out an old war blade. He held it at arm length to show it better, "Mine's just a sword. I kinda wish it could do something cool but nope. Just kinda swish, swish, stab."

Ruby tried to cheer him up, "At least it's doing what swords do best."

"Yeah. And there's this too." Jaune pulled out the scabbard on his side before it folded open and became a shield with a double crescent moon symbol on the front, "Yep. My _Crocea Mors_. The hand-me-down of the Arc family for generations."

Naruto shrugged, "Well, that's still pretty cool."

"You think?"

"Yeah." Ruby added with a nod of her head, "That things got history. Personality. All that cool jazz." Ruby chuckled akwardly for a moment before coughing and smiling, "Plus, it looks good with the whole 'knights of old' look. I think its cool."

Jaune perked up at the complient, "Aw, thanks."

"Well, some people do need protection." They looked over to see Naruto wipe under his nose and grin, "But I never needed protection with a shield before."

Ruby looked at him jokingly, "Oh really? What? You don't get hurt?"

"Oh no. I get hurt." Naruto looked off, "Actually, I get hurt a lot. Almost a very concerning amount..." He smiled, "But I don't usually stay hurt for long."

"What does that mean?"

"Watch." Naruto placed _Stabby _back in his right shoe and held _Cutty _over his plam. He slowly traced the knife's edge over his skin until blood started to seep out.

Ruby and Jaune got squeamish, "Eep(x2)!"

Ruby screamed, "Naruto, what are you doing?!"

"Give me a sec."

"Um, Naruto, I don't do good with blood." Jaune started to hyperventilate and get woozy, "The sight of blood! The-the smell of blood! Just thinking of blood kinda makes me-oh-oh no-"

"Hold your lunch Jaune, you're gonna want to see this." Naruto held his hand out to show his new friends the fresh cut along his hand. And just as they were growing concerned with whether they made friends with a psychopath, the cut started to quickly seal itself up and heal.

While Jaune and Ruby were nearly slack-jawed at the sight, Naruto waved his hand and smiled, "I have a little thing called Regeneration."

Ruby swooned, "Woah~. You can make doubles of yourself?"

"Yeah-wait, what? No. That's not what regeneration does."

"Oh." Ruby tilted her head, "What am I thinking about then?"

Jaune answered, "Duplication maybe?"

"What's regeneration then?"

"It means he can heal from cuts and stuff. Like a lizard."

"Oh..." Ruby was even more impressed, "That's so much cooler."

"Yeah." Naruto tossed his knife in his hand and grinned, "This little condition of mine has saved my bacon more times than I can count."

"What if you lose an arm?" Jaune asked enthusiastically while thinking about the useful power his blond friend had, "Like if it got cut off or something could you grow a new one?"

Ruby asked next, "Oh! Oh! Does a new you grow from the arm?"

"What about a leg?"

"Or your head?"

"Um..." Naruto placed his last knife away before thinking, "I don't know because I've never been in situations like that. And I really don't want to."

"Well, yeah, I guess."

"Makes sense."

"You probably avoid situations like that."

"I probably don't want to know what it's like if you...lose a head."

After a moment, the three weirdoes looked between each other and just chuckled at the direction their conversation had made.

Ruby then blinked and looked around, "Hey, aren't we supposed to be going to the orientation right now?"

Naruto stopped laughing with a look of realization over his face, "Oh, I knew there was something I forgot."

"Where is it?"

"I don't know!"

"How could you not know?"

"Why don't either of you know?! It was in those pamphlets they were handing out!"

"Yang took ours!"

"Sasuke took ours!"

"I didn't even grab one! I was too worried about the flight!"

"So none of us know where to go?!"

"No(x2)!"

"Oh my god, this is the worst first day ever!"

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

In the main structure of the Beacon Academy building was a massive presentation hall. This was used for presentations, a small arena in the other room for training and sparring, and at the moment was being prepared for the orientation of new students.

Naruto, Ruby, and Jaune barged into the large building with just moments to spare. They held themselves up on their knees and were panting after sprinting in from their long distance.

"S-see, I told ya it was the big center building!" Naruto pushed himself up and wiped his face, "It's always the big building that draws the most attention where the best stuff happens!"

"Right..."

"Yeah, we'll keep that in mind." They all looked around at the crowded space they found themselves in as the students were all conversing with each other.

Jaune almost felt minuscule, "W-wow, this is a lot of people."

Ruby slumped in disappointment, "How am I supposed to find Yang now?"

"Ruby!"

They all looked over to see the taller blonde girl wave her sister over, "C'mon! I saved you a spot!"

Naruto shrugged, "Well, that was convenient."

"Ohhhhh..." Ruby started rolling her shoulders in place to loosen up, "She's gonna be so sorry when I'm done with her." Ruby started marching over before looking back at her new friends and waving goodbye, "I'll see you guys later."

Jaune and Naruto waved the girl goodbye before the armor clad boy hung his head, "Well there goes the nice, quirky person in our little group of weirdo misfits."

Naruto felt insulted, "What? I'm not nice and quirky enough?"

Jaune shook his head, "That's just weird."

"Yeah I know." He patted his new friend's back and walked ahead, "C'mon, this thing's gonna start any moment."

The room was full of students talking amongst themselves to near deafening proportions until the screens over the stage turned on. From behind the stage door, Ozpin and his top teacher, Glynda Goodwitch, walked out on stage. Ozpin took a moment to prepare himself and tapped on the microphone until the sounds resonated through the speakers.

After he was done, he stood there for a moment and just looked out at all the students looking up at him.

("You all know why you are here. You have worked or proven yourselves ready to take the next step in your lives. Through adversity. Through pain. And now that you are all here, you must be thinking that you're futures have been set in stone. Well I'm here to tell you...that you are wrong. Coming to this school does not mean that you have reached the end of your journey. In fact, this is nothing more than a stepping stone for what you must decide. Your choices will be harder. Your days will be long. Some of you may not even be able to cope with what's ahead. All we can do for you is try to prepare you for what may happen. Whatever your future holds, this is for certain...")

("Your halcyon days are over from this point on.")

Ozpin stepped away from the microphone and Glynda stepped up, ("Tomorrow will be your initiation. Tonight, you will all gather together in the ballroom to sleep. Be prepared for anything.")

Jaune gulped and leaned over to Naruto, "That seemed kinda...bleak for an initiation speech, right?"

Naruto just stared ahead at the stage as the words started to sink in.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

Naruto was lying on his sleeping bag and staring up at the ceiling, dressed in his PJ's and nightcap to cover his hair. He sighed and just kept looking at the dim lights overhead, ignoring the guys talking around him and remembering the words Ozpin had spoke. Not just on stage but in the interrogation room as well.

Looks like he wasn't just blowing air when he said all that stuff. He really meant it.

"Well, you definitely look like the teeth pulling experience has subsided." Naruto looked back to see Sasuke in a black shirt and loose gray pants standing over him. He waved to his friend lying on the sleeping bag.

Naruto smiled a little, "Oh look, it's my partner and best friend in the world, Ditchy the Asshole."

"Oh come on, don't take it so personally." Sasuke smiled while defending himself, "Look! You found your stuff right? Your clothes. _Gatling Stormer_. I did what we were asked to do."

"Yeah." Naruto turned to lay on his stomach while glaring up at his standing friend, "And then you ditched me for the rest of the day. Which is why you are Ditchy...the Asshole."

"All right well I can see you're going to be crabby for awhile so I won't even bother." The raven-haired boy looked around at all the boys sleeping on one side and all the girls sleeping on the other. He then looked down at Naruto, "Did you even try talking to someone today?"

"As a matter of fact, I did." Naruto propped himself on his elbows, "I met two people today. They were nice. Cool. Funny. Way better people than you."

"Hmmm..." Sasuke shook his head, "I don't believe you."

"Oh piss off you prick."

"Hey Naruto!"

Naruto smiled when he heard Jaune's voice call out to him and sat up a little, "There's one of them right now. Sasuke, I'd like to introduce you to Jaune-oh dear god man what are you wearing?"

Jaune came walking over in his full-body pajamas and slippers while Naruto looked up at him in horror. Jaune looked himself over, "What? They're my PJ's. They are warm and comfy."

Sasuke nodded his head, "He seems nice."

Naruto looked up at Jaune in disbelief and just absentmindedly shook his head, "Jaune, that's the kinda stuff that little two-year olds wear to keep warm. Or-or maybe old people who are trying not to mess themselves. I-I-I'm drawing a blank. It's just so ridiculous."

Sasuke scoffed, "Oh please, like you're one to talk."

"What?"

"Naruto, you walk around all day in an orange vest. You are no one to judge people's clothing choices."

"Oh come on! That's stylish!"

"No. No it's not."

"But...they sold it to me telling me it was."

"Then you were lied to."

"Gale wouldn't lie to me."

"Gale's been lying to your face."

"Oh Gale, why?" Naruto hung his head sadly at the thought.

While Naruto was sulking, Jaune and Sasuke looked at each other. Jaune held out his hand, "Nice to meet you. I'm Jaune Arc."

Sasuke shook his hand, "Sasuke Uchiha. And I'm sorry to hear that you had to spend the whole day taking care of my friend here."

"Oh no, it's fine. Naruto's a cool guy." Jaune defended his new friend before looking off to the side, "Until-y'know-the part where he cut across his hand with a knife."

"Oh god." Sasuke rubbed the bridge of his nose before he tried to scold his friend, "Naruto, I've told you to stop showing people that. It's disgusting."

"What? It's a conversation starter."

"Conversations that start off like 'Oh god! What's wrong with you, you freak?!' Something like that."

"It still starts a party."

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

Yang rested on her side and looked at her baby sister as she sulked into her pillow, "Okay...so let me get this straight...you knocked a girl's luggage over, she started yelling, you blew her up, another girl came and stopped the fighting, they both walked away without saying another word, and then two guys you never met before came to help you?"

Ruby hummed, "Uh huh."

Yang thought for a moment before smiling and shaking her head, "I'm sorry. Don't believe it. I mean I'm happy that you can openly talk with people you just met but I'm finding it hard to believe you blew someone up and made friends in the span of an afternoon."

Yang received a pillow thrown squarely into her face.

"No thanks to you." Ruby pouted before lying back down on her bag, "This never would've happened if you didn't ditch me."

"Oh, it wasn't that bad."

"I was crying Yang!"

"You weren't crying."

"I was gonna start crying Yang!" Ruby put a hand under her cheek to hold herself up, "I'm just glad Naruto and Jaune were there to help me."

"I still find it hard to believe."

"They're real! Honestly!" Ruby sat up and tried to defend her point, "Jaune's this nice and weird guy who was on the ship with us. He was the one throwing up on us actually-"

"You made friends with Barf Boy?"

"-and Naruto's this guy who can cut himself and-um-he makes bacon."

Yang raised an eyebrow, "He makes bacon when he cuts himself?"

"No! I-I mean he said something about bacon. I-" Ruby huffed and stood up before grabbing Yang's arm and leading her to the other side of the room, "C'mon, it's easier if I just introduce you!"

"Oh. Okay. Well if you want to go over to the boys' side so late at night I'm not one to argue."

The two sisters walked through the ocean of sleeping bags and lazy students until they were in ear shot of a certain conversation taking place...

"I'm telling you I wasn't throwing up for kicks! I just can't handle transportation!"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean any offense by it. I just didn't realize that was you."

"You shoulda been there Sasuke. He didn't stop for like ten minutes. It was like a machine. A stinky yet amazing machine." Their boy talk ended when Naruto spotted a familiar face walking over, "Oh hey Ruby, you just missed the fun conversation we were having."

"Hey." Ruby motioned to the blonde besides her, "Naruto, this is my big sister Yang. Yang, Naruto."

Naruto nodded up at the surprised blonde girl, "Hey. You must be the 'back-stabbing big sister' we've been hearing so much about."

Yang blinked in honest shock, "Oh wow, you're actually real. That's...unexpected. But really welcome. Yang Xiao Long, at your service."

Naruto gave a small salute, "Naruto Uzumaki, ready to serve back."

Ruby motioned besides them, "And this is Jaune Arc, the one in the funny footsie pajamas."

Yang giggled a little, "That's definitely Barf Boy."

"No-I..." Jaune hung his head and sighed before waving his hand, "Yeah, I'm Barf Boy, nice to meet you."

Ruby pointed to the black-haired boy, "And this is...someone I don't know."

"Sasuke Uchiha." He nodded to the two ladies, "I'm the one in charge of making sure this idiot doesn't cause too much trouble."

Jaune looked hurt, "What did I do?"

Sasuke shook his head, "No, not you. That idiot."

Naruto scoffed, "Like you ever stopped me from making an idiot out of myself."

"Wow Ruby, you were actually telling the truth about these guys. That's great!" She patted her baby sister on the back in pride before she groaned, "Oh god, you really blew someone up."

"I told you!"

Sasuke blinked in confusion, "Wait, someone blew up?"

"You didn't know someone blew up?"

"He wasn't there to find out. Because he's Ditchy...the Ass-"

Sasuke interrupted, "How did someone blow up?"

"It was an accident! I have allergies! When stuff like that gets up my nose-"

"You blew her up with your allergies?"

"No, with Dust!"

"You sneeze Dust?"

"No, she was just waving Dust all around and it got up my nose and-"

"Excuse me!" The little group of students all turned to see Weiss with her hair down and wearing a night gown walk over to them with a firm level in her voice, "I'm sorry if you haven't realized yet but there are people here trying to sleep so if you could...YOU!"

Ruby hid her face, "Oh no."

They all looked towards the youngest member, "What's wrong?"

"She's the girl I blew up."

"Oh~(x4)."

Weiss rubbed her face, "I should have known it was you causing such a ruckus."

Yang took a step forward towards the stubborn heiress, "Hey, look, um-"

"Weiss."

"-Weiss, I'm sorry if you had a bad first impression of my sister Ruby. But I promise she isn't as weird as you might have believed her to be."

Naruto hesitantly groaned, "Well-"

"No!" Yang sent him a threatening glare, "Nothing from you!"

"Ugh." Weiss rubbed her temples with a pained groan, "I think I'm starting to get a migraine."

"Well that's a shame gorgeous~. A pretty little Snow Angel like you shouldn't be in such a stressful situation." Jaune slid by her side and spoke with confidence nobody believed he had, "Maybe you need someone like Jaune Arc to help you through the pain~."

Weiss took a moment to look the scraggly blond boy over from head to toe.

"No."

"Okay. Worth a shot."

As they watched the footsie wearing boy walk away, Weiss turned forward again, "Look, I just want to go to bed and prepare for the initiation tomorrow. So get your little apologies out now and...where did she go?!"

Yang looked behind her to see nothing there. She looked around for her little sister before looking at Naruto and Sasuke, "Where'd she go?"

They pointed off to the side where Ruby was making her way over to the wall. Ruby snuck her way past all the other people until she finally arrived at her destination and waved at the girl sitting against the wall, "Hello."

The bow wearing girl in a black kimono looked up from her book to see the young girl standing over her, "Oh...aren't you that girl that blew herself up?"

"I blew me and Weiss up but yeah, that's me." Ruby put her hands behind her back and felt nervous talking to the aloof girl, "I never got a chance to thank you for helping me earlier. I didn't even ask you your name. Mine's Ruby...just so you know."

She went back to reading her book, "I'm Blake."

"It's nice to meet you Blake." She noticed the bow wearing girl was still paying attention to her book, "So...what book are you reading?"

Blake's eyes looked up at Ruby before looking back at the pages, "It's a story of a man with two souls. Both fighting for dominance over each other and ownership of their shared body. And both suffering the consequences of the other being in control. 'If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also.' Books about duality like that always interested me."

"Oh, that's cool." Ruby felt completely overwhelmed by Blake's superior taste in literature and terminology. What the heck was duality? Was it edible? Ruby chuckled akwardly, "I guess I was always more favorable of picture books and stuff. Stories about knights saving princesses and saving the day."

Blake laughed lightheartedly, "Well, most children are raised on books like that so they leave a very strong impression. But you shouldn't let stories like that set your whole ideal about the world. There are far worse monsters out there than dragons and Grimms. And some of them might be walking around us without our even knowing."

"Yeah, I know." Ruby nodded her head with a faint smile on her face, "I know that the world isn't as black and white as we're supposed to believe. But I still think that there are people that can do some good out there."

"Are you sure? There are some pretty bad people in this world that would do whatever they can for their purpose."

"Yeah, but we're still here." Ruby looked around at all the students filling the ballroom, "Everyone that's come here is doing it for different reasons. Different goals. But we're all trying to make the world a better place anyway we can. Even you and I might be able to do something to help better the world."

"You know, that's a pretty naive and childish way to look at the world." Ruby felt like she failed to make her point before Blake looked up from her book and smiled, "But that doesn't sound so bad when you think about it."

Ruby cheered up and smiled, "I guess we'll just have to see what happens, huh Blake?"

"Yeah, I guess you're-"

"There you are!" Weiss came marching over with a scowl directed towards the silver-eyed girl, "You've been bugging me all day and it stops now! And you! You were there with us too! I remember what you said!"

"Ruby!" Yang came running over next, "I tried to stop her but she was talking so fast that I got worried and confused!"

"Wait! Wait! Stop everything!" Naruto came running up behind before he breathed out in relief, "I didn't want to miss a moment of this. Okay, contiune." This earned him scowls from all girls present and a punch in the shoulder by Yang.

"You aren't helping in the least!" Weiss turned back towards Ruby and pointed at her, "You need to seriously leave me alone! This situation has only gone from bad to worse with your involvement!"

Ruby begged her, "Please let me make it up to you! I swear I can do good!"

"You said that before and all you've caused me so far is pain and nausea!"

"HOLY CRAP WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP!"

"WE'RE TRYING TO GO TO BED!"

"HEY! WE ARE DISCUSSING SOMETHING HERE! SO YOU ALL NEED TO SHUT UP!"

As the entire room gotten into an upheaval and multiple objects started being thrown at each other, Blake sighed and closed her book.

Was it too much to ask for a little peace and quiet? Especially when she was getting to the good part.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

_**Done**_

_**So, I got some reviews from people that said they really want me to continue this little idea. And I am nothing if not a crowd pleaser.**_

_**Just to put it in my train of thought, I thought it would be a cool idea to make Tenten unable to create her own weapon because of how she handles it in canon. She usually spams weapons out of her scrolls but when she uses one weapon in particular she seems pretty skilled. And being able to use multiple weapons seems like something someone from RWBY could do if it is handled right.**_

_**Anyway...**_

_**ReadxReview**_

_**Thank You and Bye**_


	3. What's a Landing Strategy?

Hunting or Bust

Dust 3: What's a Landing Strategy?

I watched the RWBY Livestream! It's official! Yang's boob jiggle is canon!

I love what the series has been doing since I last updated. So good!

Also, I just found out that Michael is going to do the voice for Sting in the Fairy Tail FUNimation dub... I'm going to enjoy that.

Anyone else think Michael has a preference for voicing blond, open shirt wearing dudes? Because this is his second one now.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

The locker door clicked and slowly started to creak open. Inside was the long red scabbard, five smaller scabbards strapped to it with two handles on both sides and hooks similar to _Stormer's_.

Naruto slowly started to grow a malicious grin and pulled his blades out of the locker. He looked them over, "You guys have been getting eager, haven't you?"

The black bandana wearing blond sat down on a bench and started tracing his finger over the scabbards, "That's right boys and girls, we're back in action today. Now I know we've heard all the stories and rumors that this initiation test is supposed to be a hard task not many people can finish. And let's be honest...a few of these guys probably aren't gonna make it. That's right, we've all got eyes on Jaune. But we shouldn't be worried. Not in the least. Because this is a chance to show everyone in Beacon just how awesome you guys are."

"Naruto-"

"It's been a while since we had to fight Grimms but we haven't forgotten how to do it."

Yang's hand waved in front of his face, "Yoohoo~, Naruto~."

"Now let's make sure we're all ready." Naruto twisted the hilt and the compartment of _Stormer's _hilt flipped open to reveal dozens of arrows he had placed inside.

Yang took a step back until she stood near Sasuke and shook her head, "Okay, you were right, he's out of it. So this happens a lot I suppose?"

"Not usually. Only when it's something big and he gets excited. I guess that means he's gonna try and take this seriously so that's a plus." Sasuke looked behind them, "I see you have to deal with something similar."

They both looked towards Ruby as she hummed a catchy tune and sharpened the massive blade of _Crescent Rose_. Needless to say, it was an odd sight to see such a cute girl happily grind a whetstone against a scythe twice her size.

Sasuke shook his head and attached _Vollmond Reflexion _to his side. He looked between the two distracted teens, "Should we just leave them until it's time for the test?"

"Don't worry." Yang cracked her fingers and smirked, "I learned a very special and effective way to bring people like this out of a trance thanks to Ruby."

Yang decided to first try and pull Naruto back to the real world. She stood behind him and waited...

***SMACK***

"OW!" Naruto yelped and held the back of his head after Yang harshly punched it with her gauntlet. She waved and gave him a cheeky smile as Naruto hissed at the pain, "Geez, I think you cracked my skull."

"Well you're the guy with the miracle band-aid powers so I'm not all that worried." Yang walked over to Ruby, "Her on the other hand-"

***SMACK***

"AHHHHHHH-WHYYYYYYYY?!" Ruby fell off the bench and started clutching her head when she felt the familiar smack resonate through her skull.

Yang placed her hands on her hips and nodded triumphantly, "Well, I think that worked."

Naruto and Sasuke cringed at the sight of the young girl rolling on the floor while grasping the back of her head. She moaned and looked up at her older sister with teary eyes, "Why~?"

"Because I know better than anyone that once you start cleaning _Crescent Rose_, you go into every nook and cranny. Then you start fiddling with the barrel, and the magazines, the slide, and everything else you find. And when you're finished, the afternoon's gone and your hungry. I just saved you missing out on the test."

Ruby sat up and continued rubbing her head, "There are better ways to do that."

"Your better isn't as effective as my way."

Ruby glared up at her big sister before looking over at the two boys watching from the side, "You guys think this is bad, right? Would you treat a sibling like this?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "No idea. Only child."

Sasuke looked off to the side, "Me and my brother didn't usually interact like that."

Ruby just glared childishly at them before hugging her weapon in its standby mode, "Well it doesn't matter what the rest of you think. _Crescent Rose_ always need my attention to make sure she's in effective condition. My baby likes to show herself off when she's around other people."

Sasuke and Yang looked at Ruby in bewilderment but Naruto nodded his head in understanding, "Yeah, I get that. Sometimes, you just wanna show your weapon off to anyone and everyone you can. Make them jealous." He turned around and brought attention to the sheathes on his back, "I'm using today as a chance to get all these little guys back into play."

Ruby cheered, "Yay! Someone else gets it!"

The other two fighters looked between the odd duo before Yang raised an eyebrow. She looked at the bandana wearing blond, "Hey, why do you have those extras?"

Naruto tilted his head, "What?"

"All those extra swords on your back, why do you carry them around?"

"Because they aren't extras." Naruto turned back around, "I use all of these guys in battle when I need to get serious."

Yang blinked in surprise, "How many is that?"

"Well, these all have two small swords in them so that's ten swords. And then there's _Stormer_ so that makes eleven."

"Yeah. So you have ten small swords as backup in case something goes wrong."

"No! I use them all when I need them!"

Yang was starting to get ticked off, "How can you use eleven swords at once? That's not practical!"

Naruto was silent for a moment before he rubbed his chin and hummed. He walked over besides Ruby and asked, "Hey Ruby, why would you have something like a massive scythe with a sniper rifle if it wasn't practical?"

Ruby played along, "Well Naruto, the same reason someone would have eleven blades to use at once." She had a spunky face and looked back at Yang, "Because it's awesome!"

"Mm-hmm! She gets it!" Naruto and Ruby did a quick high five while smiling, content with themselves at proving Yang wrong. They were already smack talking in sync.

Yang was fuming and about to burst before she took a deep breath in and out.

Sasuke decided to dissolve the tension, "Okay, now that we're done arguing about weapons, are you guys ready for today?"

Yang's demeanor changed back into her excited, eager self and she started bouncing on her feet, "Oh yeah, I'm ready for anything!" She then turned to Ruby, "Do you have everything?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, "Yes."

"Extra magazine for your gun?"

"Yes."

"Extra extra magazine just in case?"

"Yes."

"Your hood?"

"I'm wearing it."

"Just checking. Did you eat enough?"

"I ate plenty!" Ruby grumbled in annoyance at Yang's overprotective tendencies, "I ate my pancakes! I drank my milk! I've eaten enough!"

"Oh you could never eat enough." Naruto disagreed, "I think as long as there is space in your stomach, you need to eat something!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Yeah, we know Naruto. You're like a trash compactor when you see food."

Ruby and Yang nodded in agreement. They decided to have breakfast together as one group and the two girls were shocked to see how much the whiskered boy could stuff down his gullet.

"Oh c'mon, I'm not that bad."

Ruby looked up at him, "But you ate an entire plate full of pancakes earlier."

Yang added, "You ate an entire second plate of pancakes after that."

Sasuke scowled, "You ate my pancakes!"

Naruto looked confused, "But you said you didn't like pancakes."

"I said I didn't think I could eat a full plate of them! And I didn't! Because you ate all of them!"

"Oh sorry, I didn't know you meant it like that." Naruto then just grinned and stretched out, "Oh well, what's done is done! Let's get ready for test! What do you think it's gonna be? Tournament? Puzzle? I really hope it's not anything to do with writing."

Yang and Ruby grimaced, in full agreement that a written test would be the worst way to have a test.

Sasuke sat down on the bench, "I hear there's something about making teams with people."

Ruby groaned and looked off to the side, "Great. More fun with strangers."

Yang looked over to her unenthusiastic little sister, "Oh don't worry, it's not gonna be that bad. Just do the same thing you did yesterday to talk with Naruto and Jaune."

"You mean blow up myself and the heiress of a world renowned company?"

Yang was silent for a moment. She looked off to the side, "Okay, maybe not the exact same way."

Naruto chuckled at the sisters' banter before he looked around and noticed one of their new friends was nowhere in sight. He looked a little harder, "Speaking of Jaune, where is he?"

"He said he was gonna look for his locker with all his stuff in it. But that was like half an hour ago."

"Did he get lost or something?"

"He said he didn't remember putting his stuff in a locker with a really high number so he went looking around."

Naruto blinked before he chuckled nervously. Okay, now he really was worried that Jaune was not gonna have it easy during this test.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

Weiss typed the password for her locker and pulled the metal door open. She pulled her holster out before carefully taking out _Myrtenaster_ and placing it at her left side. She locked the rapier into place before humming with a small smile and nod. She shut the door and looked to the girl locking her armor into place, "So, Pyrrha, how are you feeling about the exam?"

The red-headed girl strapped on her bronze pieces while sitting on the bench. She clicked them together before looking up at the girl with the small scar near her eye, "Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel anxious about taking the exam. But at the same time I'm very eager to see what happens."

"Oh, just what I'd expect from the top ranking student of Sanctum. You're excitement is almost contagious." Weiss sucked up and returned Pyrrha's smile with one of her own. Okay, time to lay the seeds, "Well Pyrrha, what do you think about the idea of making teams during the exam?"

"I think it's an amazing idea." Pyrrha said with a smile as she opened up her locker and pulled _Miló_ and _Akoú__o_ out to secure on her back. She shut the door, "I really want to see what everyone else in the academy can do in the battlefield."

"Oh, I'm sure they're all just amazing. But I doubt many of them could stand up against you." Weiss said with an innocent tone as she fluttered her eyelashes. She feigned realization, "Wouldn't it be great if we were on a team together?"

Pyrrha laughed and nodded kindly, "Yes, it would be something. But I doubt we will be able to control the situation we find ourselves in so easily. We might just have to let fate decide for us who we work with."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. But it would be fantastic if we did work together."

Pyrrha looked to the heiress with an honest smile, "Perhaps you will get to work alongside one of the friends you made last night."

"Yeah, maybe I-" Weiss' eyes widened and she looked to Pyrrha in shock, "What?! What friends are you thinking of?!"

"The ones you were talking with last night in the ballroom. When you were with all those boys and girls."

Weiss waved her arms, "Oh no no no no no no no. Those people were not my friends! They were just obnoxious, annoying strangers I had the misfortune of meeting earlier that day! No, in fact, I barely even met two of them, the rest were just people along for the ride!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that." Pyrrha patted Wiess' shoulder, "I'm sure today will play out better for you than yesterday did."

"Yes, I'm planning on it." Weiss agreed before she turned to the side and grinned menacingly, rubbing her hands together in success at beginning her master plan. She had the unbelievable luck of sitting on the same ship over to Beacon with the most renowned young fighter of their generation! Weiss had talked to and befriended the powerful amazon on the flight over and had gotten in her good graces.

And now that they were friends, she could use this opportunity to rise in school as the best team in history!

Weiss Schnee, top graded student and the heir to the great Schnee Dust Company. And Pyrrha Nikos, best student and rising star of Remant. Together, nothing and no one could stand in their way!

"Pyrrha!"

Weiss was immediately pulled out of her dark thoughts when she heard a new, eager voice come into play. She turned around just in time to see a new girl with brown hair done up in buns and wearing red pants and a long-sleeved blouse. She ran up to the red-head, "How are you feeling today?"

Pyrrha looked towards the other girl, "Ready for just about anything Tenten. How about you?"

Tenten smirked and grabbed her bicep, "Like I could take on a whole army of Grimm!"

"That's great to hear." Pyrrha realized that her two new friends were not yet acquainted with each other and took a moment to introduce them. She turned to the shorter white-haired girl, "Weiss, this is the girl I met yesterday after we got off the ship. She showed me the way to the main presentation hall when I got lost. Her name is Tenten Tamura."

Tenten waved, "Hi. Nice to meet you."

Weiss looked at the newcomer and narrowed her eyes. Strangers were bad enough. Strangers getting chummy with your ticket to success were even worse. She deadpanned, "Weiss Schnee."

Tenten's eyes brightened, "As in the Schnee Company 'Schnee'? Oh wow, I didn't know we had such famous people coming to school this year." Tenten started to grin, "This is so wonderful!"

Weiss blinked in surprise and flipped her hair with a smirk at the recognition she was receiving. She was glad to know that there were still some people that knew her and didn't take potshots at her family business right off the bat. She smiled, "Well, I'm glad to see some people still have the decency to compliment a person when they meet. But-Tenten right?"

The bun-haired girl nodded.

"Tenten, do you know who this girl is?" She referred to the taller warrior besides them with a proud tone, "She's-"

"Oh, I know! Pyrrha Nikos!" Tenten interrupted while trying to control her giddy joy at being next to one of her heroes, "'The Strongest of The Next Generation', 4 time consecutive winner of the Mistral Regional Tournament, she set all time records and achievements no one in the last few years has been able to make! She's-"

Tenten realized she had caused Weiss to lean back in surprise and even shocked Pyrrha with her quick talking. The hidden weapon users coughed into her hand and fixed her clothes before standing up to look dignified. She looked to the red-head woman, "Um...sorry about that Pyrrha. Old habits."

Pyrrha laughed awkwardly before waving off the other girl's concern, "It's all right. At least you're trying."

Weiss had a small scowl on her face while she looked between the taller girls in front of her. She closed her eyes and calmed her thoughts. Okay. This was fine. No problems. It was all still salvageable. This new girl was just a fan of Pyrrha. Anyone would be. As long as nothing else got in the way, her plan was still in motion.

"Hey there Snow Angel, I thought I saw something beautiful in the corner of my eye."

"IYAAA!" Weiss squealed before jumping into Pyrrha's arms like a scared child. She looked back to see the same scraggly looking blond boy with armor from yesterday waving at her. Weiss groaned while Pyrrha lowered her to the ground, "Ugh, it's you again. I thought you gave up."

"Sorry, not in my style. I'm just too stubborn to give up on the first try." He said while leaning against the locker, not realizing that his shoulder guard was causing him to slip against the locker and fall flat on his face. The girls watched him pop back up, "I'm good. I am okay."

The two other girls were confused by this boy's sudden appearance and strange personality as Weiss rubbed her temples. She grumbled, "Okay, listen..."

"Jaune."

"Jaune, right. Listen Jaune, today is a really big day for a lot of us. Exams. Teams. The fate of our futures being set up right in front of us- you know, that whole song and dance."

Jaune's peppiness shrunk a little, "Right."

"Well maybe you should spend a little time preparing yourself for making a team and not talking to random people that obviously aren't that thrilled with talking to you."

Jaune was silent for a moment as he considered what she said. He then had a suave smile take its place, "How about if we make a team? Then we can talk as much as we want."

"Oh my god it's like talking to a brick wall." Weiss bemoaned as she circled around and away from the rest of the group. They watched her walk and try to calm herself down.

Pyrrha laughed lightly before looking to the taller boy with a smile, "It seems like she's quite surprised to see someone so determined to talk to her."

"Well Momma Arc didn't raise no quitter." Jaune looked at the two other girls before waving at them, "I'm Jaune Arc, by the way. Sorry if I didn't introduce myself yet."

Tenten chuckled, "I'm Tenten Tamura."

Pyrrha waved her hand, "And I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

"Tenten, Pyrrha, it's very nice to meet you both." Jaune said kindly to the two ladies before he tried to talk with them, "So are you guys making a team with each other?"

Pyrrha thought it over, "I...don't think that's how it's going to work during the exam."

"Oh. Okay. Well that's good to know." Jaune seemed nervous and immediately asked again, "Do you know what kinda exam we're gonna do anyway? Because I didn't know and if they already mentioned it then I wasn't listening and I don't know so-"

"Breathe." Tenten interrupted when she saw Jaune's face turn light purple, "Just breathe."

Jaune nodded and took a deep breath in and out before he felt his head start to clear. He nodded to the bun wearing girl, "Thanks I...I needed that." He sighed, "Yeah, I tried to keep my cool but when I heard all that stuff about teams and futures and paths being set today I...kinda almost lost it."

Tenten rolled her eyes, "Yeah. 'Almost' being the term to define."

Pyrrha smiled, "Don't worry Jaune, I'm sure you will do fine today. Just trust in whoever you're teamed up with and have each other's back."

"Right. Okay yeah, that's good advice." Jaune nodded and took a deep breath through his nose before looking at the two women, "So what about you girls? Ready for the exam?"

"Well, I'm prepared for everything." Tenten said, "And I'm sure Pyrrha will be fine because...well, she does stuff like this all the time."

Jaune looked at the red-head, "Oh, you do? What, was it like a prep school where you take tests and stuff?"

Pyrrha looked mildly surprised while Tenten was utterly shocked by his lack of knowledge about the celebrity. She motioned to the armor clad woman, "Pyrrha Nikos? The Pyrrha Nikos? Have you not heard of her?"

Jaune shook his head, "No, I've heard of her. She said her name a minute ago and now you've said it a few times too."

Pyrrha giggled at his simple answer.

Tenten tried to jog his memory, "Champion of the Mistral Regional Tournament?"

Jaune tilted his head, "What's that?"

"'The Next Great Warrior of Our Generation?'"

Jaune shook his head, "Not ringing any bells."

Tenten was flabbergasted, "But...but she won the cover spread of the Pumpkin Pete's cereal box because of all that stuff."

Jaune gasped and nearly lost the feeling in his legs as he pointed at Pyrrha, "I thought I had seen you before! That's my favorites cereal! I eat it all the time! I got my first cavities off that stuff!"

Pyrrha looked conflicted, "Oh...um...sorry about that."

Jaune waved off her concern, "Ah, don't sweat it. I'm sure those babies would've gone bad anyway."

She laughed again, "Well that's good to know."

Weiss came back over to the group with a displeased look on her face, "Okay, I think I'm feeling better now."

Jaune tried once more to be smooth, "You feeling better about the idea of us working on a team?"

"No. Just needed to spend a moment staving off an aneurysm." Weiss took her hands off her temples and looked back at the other girls, "I'm leaving."

"M-maybe I'll see you during the test."

"Maybe. But just to make sure I don't get too anxious with the idea that you're following me..." Weiss pulled out her rapier and swung it as the ground lit up at their feet before disappearing. Jaune blinked before looking down to see ice had formed up his legs all the way to his thighs.

Weiss walked away, Tenten following not long after while waving to the partially frozen blond. Pyrrha walked by his side and gave an apologetic look, "I'm really sorry about this Jaune."

Jaune sheepishly smiled, "Ah, it's all right. This isn't that bad so you don't need to worry. Good luck with the exam."

Pyrrha was hesitant as she decided to trust his confidence and waved him goodbye before she was out of sight.

Jaune then proceeded to try and pull his legs out of the ice by leaning, punching the ice, and the very unlikely possibility that he could fly away. He hung his head, "Darn it."

He heard a few footsteps make their way to him and looked up. Naruto, Ruby, Sasuke, and Yang all standing in front of him with varying degrees of amusement on their faces. Naruto smiled and tried to speak without laughing, "H-how...how in the world did you get yourself into this?"

Jaune avoided their eyes, "I...tried talking to Weiss again."

"Yeah, that would do it."

Ruby walked up to his side and reached up to pat his shoulder, "It's okay. So far, we're both being completely ignored at our attempts at talking with that girl."

Jaune held her shoulder in return, "I now think I understand your pain."

"Yeah." Yang gave a quirky smile, "Looks like you got put on Weiss."

...

Everyone just stared at her as Ruby gave her a thumbs-down, "Booooo~."

Yang turned her head, "Whatever. That was funny."

"Um..." Jaune got their attention and looked down at the ice that encased him, "Can you guys help me out here? I'm stuck...and cold."

"I've got it." Sasuke cocked the fore-end at the bottom of his sheathe and the flap opened up to reveal his shotgun. He aimed it at Jaune's feet before advising the trapped blond, "You might want to lean back."

"W-wait! Wait! Let's think about this-"

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

Blake closed her locker door after grabbing _Gambol Shroud_ and locking it onto the latch on her back. She started making her way out of the locker room and spotted the sight of several boy and girls making their way out. Some were stern and focused while a few were nearly jumping off the walls and full of energy(especially that girl bothering that boy with the pink highlight in his hair).

Blake was feeling-

***Bang***

"GYAKKKAAAAAA-WHYYYYYYY?!"

...

Blake was doing her best not to draw attention and keep calm. No one was staring at her. No one could tell who she was. She was safe here. And as long as she could avoid attention, everything would work out.

"Krrrwaaaaa! Krrrwaaaaa!"

"Honestly Nora, I don't think that's the noise a sloth makes. In fact, I don't think sloths make noise in the first place."

"You don't know that! What if they just stay silent when people are looking at them? Maybe they have sophisticated conversations when we aren't around! Oh~, maybe they wear top hats!"

"I really doubt that."

Blake listened to the odd but amusing conversation happening between two other students. She let a sense of relief and serenity develop inside her as she walked the hall.

This is where she let past mistakes be buried.

This is where all the insecurities and bad decisions were fixed.

This is where she started anew.

She wasn't going to let anyone change that.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

"Welcome students. Today is the day of your final exam to gain entry into Beacon." Ozpin said with a cup of coffee in his hand and Glynda by his side working with a Scroll. All of the new First Year students were lined up in front of them while standing on platforms built into the ground. Looked between all of them, "You have been training for years to develop yourselves as warriors. Be it power. Skill. Technique. Strategy. Or any other strengths you have built over time, today is the day where it all comes into play in the Emerald Forest."

Naruto took a deep breath and looked between him to see he was positioned right between Jaune and Ruby. With Jaune being at the end of the line and Ruby standing right next to her big sister. Naruto leaned forward to see Sasuke somewhere down the row standing besides a huge guy in armor and another boy with a pink highlight in his hair.

Jaune, Naruto, and Ruby looked between each other with a nervous grin as Glynda continued the introduction, "Now there have been some rumors spreading between the students that you will be placed into teams this year. Allow me to shine some light on this situation. Today, you will be assigned with other students as teammates."

Some of the teenagers made small gulping sounds but they steeled themselves for the situation.

Ozpin added, "And the team you are assigned to will be the team you shall work with for the rest of your time here at Beacon."

The First Years were still surprised but they knew as long as they kept their cool-

"And your teams will be made with the first person you make contact with inside the Emerald Forest."

...

The students all looked between each other with varying degrees of surprise and uncertainty.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhh..."

And Ruby made the most pathetic whimper of her entire life when the natural, antisocial introvert inside of her curled into a ball and cried.

"Once you have made a team, make your way to the northern edge of the forest. But be on your guard...this forest is teeming with dangers that will not hesitate to attack you. If you falter, you may lose your neck."

Jaune gulped.

"In the northern edge of the forest is a site holding several relics. Each team is to take one relic and find their way back to this cliff. From the time you arrive in the forest until you come back here, we will be evaluating you and your efforts." Ozpin looked at all the new students, "Are there any questions you might have about the test?"

Several students raised their ha-

"Good. Then let's begin. Take your positions and prepare your landing strategies."

The students all bent their knees, some of them taking out their weapons and making stances while others just braced themselves for the jump. Jaune was confused, "Wait, our what?"

"Your landing strategy, Mr. Arc."

Jaune didn't even seem to notice as the platforms they were standing on started propelling students down the line through the air and into the forest.

"Yeah, but I don't know what that means."

Sasuke gripped his sheathe as he was hurdled into the sky and flew over the trees.

"It's your individual way for landing on the ground and moving through the forest."

Yang took out some aviator glasses she had clipped on her collar before seeing Naruto and Ruby looking towards her. She grinned and saluted them before she was catapulted off the cliff.

"But why would we be landing?"

"Because otherwise you might sustain injury if you don't brace yourself."

Ruby smirked and was shot off like a bullet through the sky. Naruto watched her fly before he reached back and tightened his bandana with a smirk.

"But why would I-"

Naruto whistled and caught Jaune's attention before the whiskered blond waved goodbye. His platform shot out from the ground and he flew off while laughing at the top of his lungs.

Jaune was the last one left on the cliff. He looked down at the platform he was standing on and whimpered, "Can I take the stairs?"

"No."

"Ohh-WHYYYYYYYYYYYY?!"

Ozpin and Gylnda watched Jaune launch and could see all the students glide through the air. It was out of their hands now.

It was now up to them.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Naruto laughed like a madman as he kept a hand clamped on his bandana so it didn't fly off. The other students either landed already or were out of his sight but he was still soaring over the treetops. It wasn't everyday you got to experience something like flying. Or in this case, falling with style.

Speaking of style.

"Spin! Twirl! Airplane! And~ a front flip for style! Hahaha!"

Naruto's fun had to take a backseat as he felt his arc reached its apex and he started falling towards the trees. Both of his hands reached into the pack on his tailbone and pulled out a long strip of steel wire.

He held the wire in his mouth before reaching back and pulling two of the smaller blades out of their sheathe. He locked the wire together around the hooks of the blades before kicking one of them sharply at the top of a tree.

The small sword was imbedded into the wood and Naruto immediately came swing towards it before he gave a quick yank and the sword was pulled out. He continued using the sword and wire combo to swing from tree to tree and ease his way through the forest. When he finally started to see the ground, he pulled both swords back to his hands and vaulted off a lower branch.

He spun through the air several times before landing perfectly on the ground like a gymnast. He held his swords over his head before he laughed, "All right! 10/10!"

He heard some rustling and looked back to see several trees and branches start falling to the ground after he had accidentally cut through them.

He shrugged his shoulders before sheathing his swords again, "Meh. 9.5."

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

Ruby jumped from branch to branch before landing on the grass in a crouch. She looked back up as her hair settled around her face before she sprinted at unbelievable speeds through the forest.

Her eyes looked focused and ready for anything.

Her thoughts on the other hand...

'Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! What kinda test is this?! I'm stuck with the first person I see for the next four years! I don't know people! I can't handle conversation! Okay, breathe Ruby, just breathe. Just look for somebody you know you can work with. How about Jaune? Yeah, Jaune's a good choice. He's nice. He's funny. He's...a bit slow when it comes to dangerous situations. Okay, maybe not Jaune. How about Naruto? Yeah, yeah Naruto's a great partner! He's confident! He can hold his own! He might start a fight at the drop of a-okay, Naruto will be a backup choice. Maybe Sasuke?...I don't know anything about him. Crud, this sucks! Oh, what about Blake! She was so cool yesterday, I bet she'd make a great partner. But she spoke less than me when I tried talking to her. And I think she wanted me to leave. Ugh, why can't I make up my mind? Besides Yang, who else do I know that'd make a good partner? Who else? Who-'

Ruby's thoughts were cut short when she ran through a bush and met with a certain girl with long white hair.

The heiress with the scar along her eye was pushing her way through the foliage when Ruby had come running through the thick trees. They were both silent and just blinked while looking at each other. Ruby was the first to make a move and waved to the white clad girl.

Weiss just ignored her and walked away as Ruby hung her head in shame.

No. No way. She was not going to stick with that little brat for the rest of her education. Somebody else. Anybody else would do.

"Hello~? Anyone~?"

Weiss stopped and looked up to see Jaune hanging from a tree by a red spear lodged in his hood. The blond young man looked down to see Weiss looking up at him and he waved to her.

She turned around again and walked rough the bushes until she saw Ruby standing there in the same place. She grabbed the red girl's hood and dragged her along, "You are the lesser of two evils."

"I knew you cared!"

Jaune listened as the two girls' voices disappeared and he was left pinned to a tree several feet off the ground. He sighed and drummed his fingers along the bark.

"I always seem to find you in some kind of strange predicament."

Jaune perked up a little and looked down to see Pyrrha standing by the base of the tree with her hands on her hips. She waved up at him with a smile.

He sulked and crossed his arms, "I'd prefer if this wasn't made into a habit." After a moment he looked down at the red-head and smiled, "But thanks for the save."

"No problem. Here, let me get you down." She pulled _Akoú__o_ off her back and tossed it hard enough to dislodge the spear from the tree and Jaune's hood. Unfortunately, Jaune didn't see this coming...

"AHHHHH-OOF!"

Pyrrha covered her mouth in horror as she looked at the boy lying at her feet. She spoke up, "I'm sorry."

He wheezed, "It's cool."

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

Naruto slowly made his way through the forest while keeping his guard up at all times. There was a stiff, chilling sensation in the air around him. Something that told him to stay on his toes or else he would regret it later.

Ozpin was right, this place was crawling with Grimm.

Naruto had fought Grimm before. Hell, if you had a weapon and called yourself a fighter anywhere in Remnant then you would have had to fight a Grimm at least once. It was like a rite of passage.

Naruto heard the sound of movement rustling the bushes behind him. He stopped moving and started looking around his shoulders as he slowly reached up to grab his sword's hilt.

The thing hiding in the bushes jumped out and Naruto pulled his sword out to stop an attack. He was met with a barrel at the end of a tonfa being aimed right between his eyes.

The tip of Naruto's blade was only a few inches away from the boy with the wild brown hair. In return, his mechanical tonfa had extended a machine gun barrel from its tip and aimed at Naruto's face for instant retaliation.

Naruto spoke first, "Lower the weapon."

"You first."

"I don't like a machine gun pointed at my face."

"Well I don't like a sword pointed at mine."

"You're the one that came jumping out first. I was just protecting myself."

"I felt a presence moving behind the bushes and I acted. Ozpin said that this place would be full of things trying to attack us. I just wanted to make the first strike."

"..."

"..."

"You don't have a partner, do you?"

"No. You?"

Both boys were silent for a moment before they lowered their weapons with a dissatisfied sigh. Naruto sheathed his sword, "Name's Naruto."

The wild looking teenager hooked his tonfa away, "Kiba."

"Well Kiba, I guess we're partners now."

Kiba nodded his head but looked off to the side, "Yeah, I guess so."

The two strangers were quiet as an awkward atmosphere settled between them. Now that they were experiencing it, it was pretty unnerving to know the first person you met in the forest was going to have your back for the next four years.

Naruto clapped his hands, "Well, we aren't gonna get anywhere just standing here. Let's get moving." He started leading the way, "C'mon, the cliff is directly behind us so if we keep heading straight we should reach the sight they were talking about."

Kiba stood there and watched Naruto walk through the bushes. A moment passed before he reemerged with a stoic look on his face and he looked at the brown-haired man, "Why aren't you coming?"

"Because that's not the right way."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Do you think when he said north he meant directly that way? This forest is huge! North is a big general direction to move in." Kiba looked around for reference, "No, they must have put the site somewhere that would be more difficult to reach."

Naruto crossed his arms, "Okay, then what do you think we should do?"

Kiba pointed in one direction, "I caught the scent of something earlier before we jumped each other. I bet that's the path they took to get to the site."

Naruto looked at the boy with the tattoos on his face in confusion and slight disgust, "You caught a scent?"

"Yeah. It's a skill. Y'know, something we're supposed to be testing in this exam."

Naruto looked at him incredulously, "And how do you know it's the right path to the site?"

"Because the scent of perfume and milk was filling my nose." Kiba looked back at Naruto like he wasn't pleased with the idea of his abilities being questioned, "Ms. Goodwitch was wearing a hint of something while we were on the cliff and what do you put in coffee?"

He asked Naruto who just stood there with a stone-faced expression.

"Milk. Which means Ozpin must have been down here too." He pointed in the direction again, "I know if we head this way we'll reach the site in no time."

Naruto was silent for a moment before he asked, "So did you get a good whiff of everyone or are you just interested in knowing what Ms. Goodwitch smells like?"

"Great joke dumbass." Kiba started leaving, "C'mon, follow me."

Naruto stood there for a moment before he sighed and started following after Kiba.

If they were gonna be a team together then this was going to be a long four years.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

_**Done**_

_**So since these chapters can be made pretty short, I can get more out faster and make up for the month long hiatus.**_

_**And just so you guys have an idea of why Weiss is being really mean, is because she is really mean. At least she was in the beginning of the series. Hell Kara, the lady who voices her, straight out said that Weiss is kind of a bitch. She still keeps elements of that even now but she has gotten a whole lot better compared to the first episodes she was in. That's the wonders of...**_

_**CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!**_

_**Anyway...**_

_**ReadxReview**_

_**Thank You and Bye**_


	4. The Players Make Their Moves

Hunting or Bust

Dust 4: The Players Make Their Moves

I'm sorry I didn't get into the big action sequence you were all expecting but I needed this chapter to establish the next one.

I haven't updated recently because:

1) Work Load

2) Writer's Block

And most importantly 3) iOS 8 update completely destroyed my writing process, impeding the speed I can write, and hindered everything else I've been working on for the last few weeks. I lost more than a thousand words at a time because my program kept shutting down before I could save.

But anyway...

On with the show!

ZWEI!

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

Sasuke sprinted through the forest and maneuvered around the trees while making sure his senses were at the ready for anything and everything. Although now that he thought about it, there really wasn't any reason to try and be aware of his surroundings.

Because anything and everything that would want to hurt him was currently chasing him by his metaphorical tail.

Sasuke looked back to see a group of Beowolves, Boarbatusks, and Ursai for good measure charging after him.

While Sasuke dashed through the woods with the roaring and gurgling of several kinds of creatures of pure destruction chasing behind him, he couldn't help but glare and curse his luck.

It wasn't his fault that he was finding some fun in soaring over the trees, right? How many times do you get flung off a cliff with a catapult? And when you have the skills to land in a situation like that without sustaining injury, it isn't uncommon to try and find some joy in doing so.

But, of course, he had to jump a little further than where he was supposed to land.

And of course he landed directly in the middle of a Grimm nest.

Good lord, Naruto would be having a freakin' field day if he knew he was in this situation.

And if his brother knew he was being careless...

Oh who was he kidding, if his brother was facing him right now then he would have a lot more to say than just how disappointed he was that Sasuke was being careless.

And just as Sasuke's thoughts started to drift, an Ursa popped out from behind a tree and raised its claw to slash at him. But it swiped at thin air as Sasuke ducked under the massive claw before he flipped and placed his feet on the creature's chest.

He pulled the trigger and the shotgun blast blew the Grimm's head off while launching him at the charging stampede of monsters. He pulled his sword out in a quick draw and sliced a Beowolf in half before he skidded across the ground.

The Grimm all turned around before charging again at the sword wielding teenager. He spun the blade in his hand before parrying several strikes from a Beowolf that took the first charge. Sasuke blocked the monster's attack before spinning on his feet, removing his sheathe while cocking it, and aiming it against the Grimm's head before pulling the trigger.

As the Beowolf fell back, an Ursa came charging forward to attack the Uchiha boy but he blocked the strike with his sword. He immediately pushed the blade back before quickly swiping at the large Grimm's body several times with his blade. It met some resistance from the Grimm's naturally hard body and bone-like armor but each of Sasuke's strikes staggered the larger creatures before he kicked it in the chest and sent it flying back through a tree.

Two Boarbatusks came spinning at him while the raven-haired boy jumped over them for safety. They turned around before speeding towards him again. Sasuke gripped his sheathe and held both arms out as his sword and sheathe slipped in between the Grimms' tusks. He pushed down and sent the creatures flying through the trees while they wailed in shock.

He ducked under a Beowolf's swipe and swept its leg out from under it before kicking it into a bush. He smacked another Beowolf in the face with his sheathe before flipping his sword in hand and stabbing behind him into a charging Boarbatusk. He looked up to see a pouncing Ursa come down at him so he rolled out of the way as the monster crashed into the ground.

Sasuke rolled before sitting back up to see that the entire collection of Grimm were covering him on all sides, letting out low growls as they advanced towards him. The young Uchiha narrowed his eyes before flipping his sword in hand and sliding it back into its sheathe. He reached down and cocked the top fore-end before gripping the handle of his sword.

The young man closed his eyes and slowed his breathing while keeping his focus on the Grimm and their movements.

The surrounding Grimm all pounced forward at the crouching boy with the intent to kill.

***Bang***

***Schwip*Schwip*Schwip*Schwip*Schwip***

With the extra power from firing _Vollmond Reflexion_ out of his sheathe, he drew his sword with a quick slash and cut everything around him several times. The Grimm all froze in place with Sasuke's arm outstretched with his sword in hand.

The Grimm all blew apart after getting sliced into pieces and the trees around them fell apart from the power of Sasuke's fast draw.

As his enemies fell to chunks, Sasuke spun his sword in his hand before sheathing it again and standing up. He looked around at all the sliced apart bark, bushes, and Grimm parts before deciding to get back to the exam at hand.

**"Grahhhhhhhhh."**

Sasuke stopped and looked back to see the Ursa he had kicked earlier had recovered after his strike and was making its way back to him. It stood up on its hind-legs and prepared to fight him again. Sasuke furrowed his eyes and lowered his stance to attack once more.

***Schwip(x57)***

Sasuke blinked in surprise as knives flew around him and littered the Grimm's entire body. There were dozens of knives pierced into the creature's body and they had flew around him so expertly that there was an outline of his body where the Ursa wasn't skewered.

It let out one last growl before falling forward in a dead heap.

Sasuke just stood there in surprise as his last foe was swiftly and utterly defeated by several dozen different types of knives that flew out of nowhere.

"Hey, that was pretty cool right?"

Sasuke turned around to see a young lady with her hair done up in buns.

She smiled and flipped her wrist so a knife appeared between her fingers, "Sorry I didn't come out sooner but it looked like you were handling everything pretty well by yourself. I think that thing you did with your sword was way cooler, but I guess I just wanted to help in the end. You don't have a partner yet, right?"

She grinned, "I'm Tenten. Looks like we're gonna be working together for a while."

Sasuke just looked at the bun-haired girl for a moment in silence. He looked back at the Ursa with the multitude of knives in its body before looking back at her in confusion, "Where...where do you hide all those knives?"

Tenten smirked, "Trade secret."

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

Ruby was silently following behind the older, white-haired girl that silently marched her way through the forest. After they had met up a while back, Weiss had dragged her along by her hood before letting her go and just kept moving. Since then, they hadn't so much as shared a conversation together.

Ruby was nervous because Weiss had a displeased, annoyed scowl spread over her face and she looked like she would go off at any moment.

To be fair, in all of the interactions she had with the heiress, she always seemed to look angry about something. But in her defense every time they met it usually ended in disaster.

Ruby sped up so she was catching up to the rapier user before she asked lightly, "Weiss, are you mad? You seem mad?"

Weiss answered immediately, "Yes. You're right. I am mad."

"Why are you mad?"

"It shouldn't be that hard to figure out why I'm mad."

"B-but I can't think why."

"Well then that's your own fault."

Ruby's expression fell and she sulked, "Geez, why are girls so hard to understand?"

Weiss stopped before looking back at her strangely. She shook her head, "You're a girl too. That...that doesn't make any sense."

Ruby felt sheepish under her glare, "W-well, I didn't have a lot of friends. And I'm more used to straight-forward girls like Yang so-okay, can you please just tell me what's wrong? Otherwise nothing is ever gonna be solved."

"Fine, if you want to know then I'll tell you." Weiss looked at her reluctantly accepted partner, "I'm upset because I don't even get a say in the matter of how much future is planned for me. I wanted a chance to prove myself. To become something worthy of this school's prestigious standard and become a great Huntress. But now...I don't think I'll be able to reach that goal anymore. Weiss rubbed the bridge of her nose but continued speaking, "The reason I'm mad is because I'm with you. An immature, unreliable child that I'm going to have to drag win me for the next four years. Someone I can't put my full trust in."

Ruby stood there silently as Weiss' words slowly started to sink in. Her expression sank and she looked down at her feet, feeling hurt by the way the white-haired girl was so certain she wasn't able to help. The red-tipped girl steeled her features and decided she wasn't going to let those assumptions define her, "I won't be a burden!"

Weiss looked back up, "Excuse me?"

In an instant, Ruby appeared in front of Weiss in a burst of speed, shocking the girl off balance, "I promise I won't be a burden to you Weiss! I can help these next four years! There will be awesomeness. Awesomeness everywhere."

Weiss stumbled back, "H-how did you-"

"Believe me Weiss, I can take care of myself! I'm quick! I can fight! Plus..." Ruby took the large red attachment off her back and extended it into her massive _Crescent Rose_, "No one will even think about messing with us while I've got this baby!"

Weiss jumped back in fright at the sight of the massive, deadly weapon in her hands. Due to their short history where very bad things happen when Ruby actively did something, Weiss was very apprehensive of her holding such a large...sharp weapon. She raised her hands, "Okay...that is very impressive...just be careful with that thing."

"Don't worry." Ruby started spinning the massive scythe with an expert hand while attempting to reassure the heiress, "I've been studying how to use a weapon like this for a long time. I've got this in the-"

***Bang***

They both flinched when Ruby's sniper accidentally went off and fired a round into the bushes. The girls slowly looked towards the direction the silver-eyed girl had fired and listened as birds and animals started rustling through the grass.

Ruby gulped before looking in the corner of her eyes to see Weiss giving her the most annoyed, incredulous look she could make.

She giggled nervously, "Oops. Sorry."

Before anything else could be said, they heard some low growls and gurgling from the bushes around them.

They turned around and watched as red eyes appeared from out of the shadows. Slowly, large claws of bone and black inky skin started reaching out before Beowolves made themselves noticed. They lurked forward with all of their vicious eyes trained on the red and white girl. And among the many monsters, one of them had a smoking gun wound in its shoulder.

Okay, correction. THAT was the most annoyed look Weiss had ever made while glaring at her.

Weiss shook her head and pulled _Myrtenaster_ from her hip. She spun the Dust revolver and got into a fencing stance, "After this, you don't do anything else for the rest of the exam. And not another word."

Ruby gripped her scythe, "It was an accident-"

"Ah! What did I just say?"

Ruby grumbled before placing her foot back and getting ready to fight, her and Weiss standing besides each other while looking around at their enemies. The Beowolves slowly stalked forward and prepared to attack.

Ruby pulled her slide and cocked her gun before firing forward and launching her self backwards. She spun through the air with her scythe outstretched as she knocked several monsters back before imbedding her massive weapon into the ground to stop.

Weiss followed after her partner's initial strike and spun on her feet before a glyph appeared under her and she thrusted forward. She shot off with amazing speed and struck the center of a Grimm's chest, blowing it backwards into the rest of the group. She spun around and swung her rapier with a swift yet staggering force.

Ruby jumped on the back of her weapon and dislodged it from the ground before spinning it in her hands and slicing off several Beowolves' claws. She twirled it around like a weightless stick before stopping it in one direction and firing off the sniper rifle, blowing off one of the Grimm's heads without any trouble.

Weiss swung her blade out before bringing it back to her shoulder and spinning the revolver to the white Dust chamber. Her blade glowed white before she swung her sword and a glyph appeared in the air, creating several icicles and shooting them in every direction. The icicles impacted against several Beowolves and killed them instantly.

While Weiss continued to swing her rapier and create different elemental attacks, Ruby charged forward and swung her scythe. _Crescent Rose_ cut through the side of the monsters as their swipes bounced off her weapon. She leaned back as one Beowolf swung at her face before the back of her scythe's landed on its shoulder and she pulled the trigger.

***Bang***

Her scythe sliced through the Grimm's chest and she swung through behind her to decapitate another one lurking behind her. She spun it in her hand and held it behind her while looking around at the remaining Beowolves, smirking confidently at her show of skill. These guys stood no chance.

She dashed forward-

"Ruby stop!"

She looked up to see a blast of fire coming at her from Weiss' position and she panicked. Ruby stumbled a little and stopped just before the blast hit her but was still knocked over by the explosion. She tumbled on the ground and rubbed her head before looking up at her partner in confusion, "What are you doing?!"

"You were running all over the field! I can't predict where you are-" Weiss' eyes widened and she pointed behind her, "Watch out!"

Ruby looked behind her to see a Beowolf raising its arm to attack her. It brought its claw down before she could move and she prepared to counter-

Two short blades flew out of the air and pierced the Grimm, one in the forehead and the other in its sternum. An orange and blue blur jumped out of the bushes and spun through the air before landing in a crouch in front of the hooded girl, pulling another two blades off from his back and throwing them at the creatures surrounding them.

Naruto stood up and looked down at Ruby before offering his hand, "Glad to see you're still causing trouble."

She looked up at him before smiling, taking his hand before standing back up. Another group of Beowolves started charging them before they were riddled with bullets and blown apart. They all looked back to see Kiba charging out of the bushes with his tonfa in hand. He emptied the magazines before two more appeared from the latches on his legs and he switched them out, "Less talking! More fighting!"

Ruby and Naruto nodded before the scythe wielding girl charged forward with the extra momentum of her shooting. Naruto reached back and pulled the last six short swords of his back, gripping each one between his knuckles as a Beowolf jumped him. He ducked under its claw before he started stabbing up into its exposed belly several times and kicking it away.

As its body flew through the air dead, two Beowolves came charging at him from different sides. He blocked their long white claws as they scrapped against the metal of his blades. They continued forward and slashed at him as sparks flew when they were parried away.

Naruto spun and ducked under their attacks before placing his palms against their chins. He put pressure on the hilts between his knuckles and three arrows shot through both of the Grimms' heads.

Ruby circled around while creating a perimeter the Beowolves couldn't escape from, leaving a trail of rose petals behind her. She moved so fast she had become nothing more than a red blur, the sounds of slicing flesh and mechanical whirring filling the space around them.

Kiba continued to spread out his arms as he shot every Grimm in his sight. One of them ducked under his bullets and charged at him before attempting to slice off his head. He blocked it with his tonfa before grabbing its arm and pushing his other fist under its jaw. He lifted it up before punching down, triggering a rocket system on the back of his weapon and giving him enough force to crush its skull into the ground, "WRAHHHHH!"

Kiba stood back up as Ruby came running to his side, retracting _Crescent Rose_ back into its gun form and pulling the slide. Kiba changed his tonfa back into their gun mode and the two teenagers were shooting everywhere around them as the Grimm started to thin out.

Naruto pulled on the strings wrapped around his thumbs and dislodged the blades he had thrown earlier. He gave them a fair amount of length and start swinging them around as they started stabbing into the remaining Beowolves. With a mighty pull, he swept them off the ground and sent them flying into the sky where they spun for a moment.

Weiss looked up at the flying target and changed her Dust setting to yellow before swiping her sword at the target. A dozen small yellow projectiles formed from where she swung her blade before they rocketed up and destroyed the last of the Grimm.

The four First Year students stood in the clearing as specks of Dust started snowing down on them. Naruto swiped his hands back and the blades came soaring down and lodged into the dirt by his feet. He took a moment to sheathe them before breathing out in relief, "That was fun. But let's try not to get all the Grimm in the forest angry at us while we're taking the exam, agreed?"

Ruby hunched over and relaxed her arms, "It was an accident. I swear I wasn't trying to provoke them or anything."

"Yeah but you always seem to get in an accident that ruins everything." Naruto pointed out while walking over to the hooded girl and his partner. He smiled, "I'm glad to see you're okay."

"Yeah, you too."

"Well this is a touching reunion and all..." Kiba interrupted while securing his tonfa to his tailbone, "But who are these girls?"

Ruby looked up at the taller, wild looking teenager standing besides her. She brightened up and looked at Naruto before asking excitedly, "Is this your partner?"

"Yep. Ruby, this is Kiba Inuzuka. He seems like a stubborn jerk but...well I don't know, haven't really talked with him much yet." Kiba glared at Naruto as he just grinned at taking the shot, "Kiba, this is Ruby Rose."

Ruby waved at the brown-haired boy with tattoos, "Nice t'meetcha."

He just gave a small smile and waved in return. Ruby bounced on her heels, "This is great! We both got our partners! Hey Weiss, come over here and-"

The white-haired girl had already made her way over with an annoyed glare on her face. She glared at her partner, "What were you thinking?"

Ruby blinked in confusion, "W-what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that you were running around so frantically during the fight!" Weiss said with an annoyed and distressed tone in her voice. She motioned to the battle they just finished, "You were running around without any discussion or cooperation, attacking everything in sight like you're someone out of a Spruce Willis movie!"

"Hey I was just fighting the way I've always fought. It's worked for me so far."

"Well it's a foolish and stupid way to fight!" Naruto and Kiba looked between each other before taking a step back from the girls' inevitable argument. Weiss pointed at her, "I almost hit you with my attack when you were fighting the Grimm! I could have killed you!"

"Hey, you were the one who threw that thing at me in the first place! It's your fault just as much as mine!" She crossed her arms with a huff, "Plus it would take a whole lot more than that to kill me."

Weiss shook her head, "Ugh! You are just insufferable!"

"Woah! Woah!" Naruto stood between the two young ladies and tried to mediate the situation, "Okay, let's all calm down. We need to take a deep breath before things get out of hand."

Weiss looked up at the taller blond and felt a twitch in her eyebrow, "Aren't you the one who was trying to instigate the argument last night?"

Naruto looked towards her, "Yeah, but that was for a good laugh. Now, you guys are going at each other's throats in the middle of a war zone. That's never a good idea."

Weiss was reluctant for a moment before she realized that as much as she wanted to reprimand the red-colored girl, this was not the time to do as such. She placed a hand on her hip before looking at the bandana wearing student, "What are you even doing here in the first place?"

Naruto relaxed when he noticed they probably weren't going to argue anymore, "We got lost on the way to the relics and we found you guys along the way. We weren't just gonna leave you guys to fight by yourselves."

"Hey!" They all looked over at an enraged Kiba as he pointed at the blond, "We were not lost and you know it! We were just...taking a detour."

"Oh right, my mistake." Naruto grumbled while throwing a looked back at his touchy partner, "Mr. Wonder Nose over there was sniffing his way to Ms. Goodwitch when he got sidetracked. My reliable partner everyone."

"You sonuva-" Kiba was fuming, "I got mixed up, fine! But my Semblance is useful in a hundred different situations! This forest is full of crap! It's not my fault I got two similar scents confused with these two!"

Ruby tilted her head in confusion, "How did you confuse scents?"

"Because you smell like milk from head-to-toe!" He pointed at Ruby, catching her off guard and making her squeak in fright. He then held his nose while looking at the heiress, "And you, do you bathe in a tub of perfume or something? You reek!"

Weiss covered herself with a flush on her cheeks, "How dare you!"

Kiba defended himself, "Hey, you can take that anyway you want. But my Feral saved your butts before you got hurt."

"We are not some helpless girls that were waiting for you to swoop in!" Weiss defied with a stern edge in her voice, "We didn't ask for help from you or Rag Head over there!"

Naruto held a hand to his bandana and furrowed his eyes. This was a bandana! Not a rag!

Ruby was quiet for a moment while looking between the heated arguers and tried to calm them down, "Weiss, they still helped us. We should at least thank them."

Weiss furrowed her eyes before turning with a huff. Kiba clicked his teeth before taking a few steps back with a uninterested grunt, "We don't need your thanks so don't even bother with it."

Naruto and Ruby shared a glance, feeling concerned about their partners' ill-tempered behavior in the stressful situation. Naruto gave a weak smile, "We should probably keep movin' to the relic site. Someone must've already made it by now. Don't wanna be the last ones there."

Ruby nodded in agreement, "Y-yeah, Naruto's right. We can all get there if we can work together."

Weiss started walking off, "We're going this way."

Kiba stormed off in another direction, "C'mon, I know this is the way!"

Naruto and Ruby looked between the two of them leave in different directions. Ruby looked at her partner indignantly, "Weiss!"

"We are not trying to make a group of friends so we can all talk and have a party together. We're trying to prove to the teachers and everyone else that we are capable of handling any dangers we may face in situations like this." Weiss said while looking back with a solid, unwavering expression, "So we don't have time to waste trying to make friends."

Ruby shrunk down a little as Naruto tried to negotiate, "Wait, hold on. We can still work together just-Kiba, get your ass back here!"

Weiss continued to march her way forward before Ruby started to follow after her. She turned to her whiskered friend and smiled, "We'll see you later Naruto. Good luck with the test."

Weiss and Ruby disappeared in the green and Naruto looked back to see Kiba waiting for him to follow. He just sighed tiredly and ran his face over his hands.

Why were people always so stubborn in situations when they had to prove themselves? Not like he was any better but it was a serious question to think about.

It was important that they prove they were strong in dangerous situations...but wouldn't keeping each other safe mean more in the end than anything else?

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

Jaune and Pyrrha were making their way through the thick foliage of the forest while the sound of gunfire of many different kinds echoed through their ears. Jaune stopped and looked at the trees as he gulped, "Was...was that a gun?"

Pyrrha stopped for a moment and listened before nodding, "Yes. It must be one of the other examinees. They must have come across a Grimm." She continued forward, "We must hurry."

"W-wait!" Jaune hesitated for a moment, "Should we-I don't know-help or something?"

Pyrrha looked back at him for a moment before looking around at the trees. She made a complicated expression, "I cannot tell which direction the gunfire came from. I don't think we'll be able to find them just by trying to follow the echo." She saw Jaune look conflicted before she tried to reassure him, "Jaune, there's no reason to be worried. Everyone here has trained for many years to reach this point. I'm sure they can all take care of themselves."

Jaune looked back for a moment and nodded, "Yeah...yeah I guess you're right." He took a few steps forward before scratching the back of his head, "I hope the others are safe."

She looked back at him and seemed interested in his worry, "Are there some friends of yours taking this exam as well?"

"Yeah. Well-I call them my friends but I kinda only met them yesterday."

"But you're worried about them?"

"Of course!" Jaune responded like it was the most natural thing to say, "If they needed help then I would do whatever I could to help!" Jaune stood valiant for a moment before slumping his shoulders, "Although I really don't know how much use I'd actually be but still..."

"Hehehe." Jaune stopped mulling over what he'd do in a situation like that and looked up to see Pyrrha's shoulders shake with her giggle. She turned around and smiled at him, "That is a very admirable decision Jaune, and I'm sure your friends would appreciate having you watch out for them like that."

Jaune chuckled, "Yeah. I bet they'd appreciate it more if I had someone like you by my side to help. I'm sure if you just throw that super spear thing around a little you could scare just about anything off."

Pyrrha smiled but had a mixed look in her eyes hearing him say that. She shook her head, "There is a stark difference between being strong and being invincible. I might be able to hold out against a strong opponent for some time but I would not want to face it alone. Anyone would prefer having help than to just be alone."

Jaune looked at Pyrrha's back as she continued moving through the forest before he spoke up, "Well, I can help you if you're ever in trouble." She looked back at him before he shrugged his shoulders, "I mean I probably won't be any more help than if you just handled it alone but I promise I'll be by your side if you need me. For as much of a meat shield as I can be."

Pyrrha looked at him in surprise before a delighted smile grew across her face, "Thank you Jaune. It means a lot to know I have you watching my back." Jaune smiled reassuringly as they continued forward, Pyrrha moving a branch out of her way, "But you shouldn't speak so poorly about yourself. I'm sure you would be a great partner to have in a fight."

He scoffed, "Yeah. Just as useful in a fight as-GAH!"

The branch Pyrrha was pushing back snapped forward and struck Jaune directly in the face. The red-haired warrior looked back and covered her mouth, "Oh no! I'm sorry Jaune! I'm so sorry!"

"N-no, I'm all right." He was covering the lower part of his face and his left eye was starting to water, "Just got caught off guard."

Pyrrha kneeled beside him, "Here, let me see." She gently held his wrist and lowered it from his face, "It shouldn't be too-uhhhhhhh."

"What? Is something wrong?" Jaune was a little unnerved by Pyrrha blank and horrified look.

She was staring at where a small twig had lodged itself between his cheek and just below his eye. She paled a little before she made an uncertain but calming smile for the quirky blond, "It's-um-it's all right Jaune. Just...close your eyes...and take a deep breath."

"Oh...okay." Jaune closed his eyes while Pyrrha gently placed a hand against his face, "Why do I need to close my-"

***YANK***

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH-didn't hurt." Jaune lamely whimpered out while some tears started forming in the side of his eyes.

Pyrrha laughed awkwardly while looking at the slightly bloodied twig in her hand. She tossed it to the side before moving closer to Jaune, "Let me take another look."

He was hesitant for a moment but he trusted that Pyrrha would know how to help him. He lowered his hand to reveal a small but bloody gash between his eye and cheek. She examined it for a moment before signing in relief, "I know it might seem callous but I think it must have felt worse than it actually was."

He wiped the involuntary tear forming in his eye and chuckled, "Well I guess there are worse things than having a stick in the face. Still hurt though."

Pyrrha apologized, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It wasn't your fault. It was the tree's." He joked before standing back up and rubbed just underneath the wound, "Can't wait to explain this when we get back."

Pyrrha had a small smile on her face while listening to the scraggly blond joke about his injury. She examine the wound she blamed herself for, "I should have warned you about the branch? At least then you could have activated your Aura and lessened the blow."

Jaune raised an eyebrow, "My what?"

"Your Aura."

"Whosea?"

"Jaune, you know what Aura is, right?"

Jaune realized he might have made a mistake and tried to cover for himself, "Oh-Uh-of course I know. Yeah, totally! That 'Orda' thing! I got that! I-I just didn't remember because I'm still a little stunned by the branch thing."

Pyrrha saw his efforts to try and cover his lack of knowledge at the subject and decided not to pry. She looked at him, "Aura is our life force, Jaune. Our very soul that manifests itself to protects us. To guide us. To shelter us from the fear, the uncertainty, and the darkness in the world. As long as you have a soul, you have Aura to guide you. And with proper practice..." Her body slowly started to glow a faint red light and Jaune was surprised at the sight, "It can become as protective and sturdy as any shield."

Jaune was stunned at the sight of the illuminating light. He blinked, "And...everything has Aura?"

"No. Not everything." Pyrrha looked off for a moment, "People and animals can manifest their life force...but the creatures of the Grimm can not." She started walking around while reciting everything she had been taught on the matter, "They lack a soul to begin with. They are only the manifestation of hatred and darkness. We fight them because we must understand that while we all have darkness within us, we are still the light that protects this world. When you can understand that, you can truly begin to make strides in becoming something more."

Jaune mulled over what she said as she saw him in deep thought. She walked up to him and looked into his eyes, "Close your eyes."

Jaune blinked, "Oh no. I don't have another twig in my face, do I?"

She shook her head, "No. But if you want to become a Huntsman, then you will need to find the light within you."

Jaune was confused for a moment before he nodded and closed his eyes. Pyrrha placed her hands on his cheeks and closed her eyes, 'It is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee.'

Pyrrha body glowed brightly for a split second before her light faded and a white light illuminated from Jaune's body in its place. She stumbled and Jaune opened his eyes in time to grab her arms and keep her standing, "Pyrrha!"

Pyrrha felt a warmth spread along her arms and blinked her eyes back into focus to see Jaune's body glowing white. She shook her head and reassured her partner, "It's all right Jaune, I was just winded from unlocking your Aura. I was expecting a small outburst before it settled but...you have quite a lot for just one person."

Jaune was surprised, "Really?"

"Yes." She smiled and pointed at his face, "And it's working in your favor."

Jaune touched underneath his eye and couldn't feel the wound that once rested there. He laughed, "How did that happen?"

"It's one of the perks of having Aura. While you can use it to protect you, it can also heal minor wounds and injuries. Sometimes only temporarily but it is still an asset to have in battle." Pyrrha smiled at Jaune's cheerful expression while looking over his glowing form, "And now that you've unlocked your Aura, it won't be long before you can find your Semblance."

Jaune looked up from his glowing arms, "My what?"

"Semblance, Jaune. A unique ability every person has that is a manifestation of your inner power. Everyone that has Aura finds that not long after, they are capable of using a power unlike most others."

Jaune was overwhelmed by her explanation and watched as the light around his body faded. He looked over his hands, "Hmmmm...I wonder if this is the same thing Naruto did yesterday with his palm."

Pyrrha titled her head, "What do you mean?"

"Well one of the guys I met yesterday, Naruto, he showed me the same kinda healing thing with a cut he made on his hand." Jaune then gestured to his whole body, "But he didn't do the whole 'glowing' thing I did. Would that be his Semblance or something?"

Pyrrha cupped her chin and thought, "I haven't met anyone that had Regeneration as their Semblance before. If it is a more advanced form than what Aura can do by itself then it is certainly possible."

"Well whatever." Jaune shrugged his shoulder and continued the path, "I'm sure his Semblance thing will help him in the fight. C'mon, we still got a relic to find, right?"

Pyrrha watched Jaune continue forward with a renewed joy in his step. She smiled and giggled to herself as he headed through the foliage. He only just discovered what Aura and Semblance are, and he seemed a little scatter-brained, but Jaune trusted and cared about people wholeheartedly. He was kinder and more aware than he portrayed himself to be at first glance.

"Ah!" Jaune fell over on the ground before raising a hand, "It's okay! I got caught in a bush but it's cool!"

Pyrrha laughed to herself before going over to help her friend out.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

"That's the last of the teams, sir. All of the students have now been paired off with each other." Gylnda spoke aloud while informing the headmaster of Beacon Academy the current status of their First Years. She furrowed her eyes, "Although I don't have much faith in some of these pairings. Conflicting personalities. Different viewpoints and skills. I'm worried this might not have been the best choice of action to make up teams."

"Weathering through any situation and being able to look out not only for yourself but those you walk alongside. This is what our test best exemplifies Glynda." Ozpin looked over his shoulder, "They may seem rough at the moment, but they will come to show themselves when the time is right."

Glynda looked down at her scroll in thought before looking back up at Ozpin's back, "Sir, I have some...reservations about the applicants you accepted this year."

Ozpin didn't turn around but did speak up, "Oh? Why do you say that?"

Gylnda started rolling over her touch screen, "Well you accepted Ms. Rose two years ahead of her determined graduation time. I understand that she showed bravery and unprecedented skill while facing that criminal in the Dust shop but I still think we should have considered it more before accepting her so quickly. And this Jaune boy as well. His transcripts say he is an excellent student but the evidence we've witnessed so far has proven otherwise. I'm worried not only for his safety but for Ms. Nikos' as well."

"Anything else?"

Gylnda lowered her Scroll and fixed her glasses before walking closer to the headmaster's side, "I still cannot believe you decided to take those two young men out of the custody of the police and fly them here to Beacon. As far as we know they could still be dangerous criminals and endanger the safety of the rest of our students."

Ozpin looked over his shoulder, "This wouldn't be the first time we've taken young people with unfavorable pasts into our system. I know we might hold hesitations at first but I always make sure that those I pick to attend are those I believe are worthy. Those two young men might appear bad on paper but as we've witnessed in the test, they are very skilled and work well with others. They are genuinely concerned for their comrades and are not showing any signs that they are just using this chance to escape. I told you...I gave those boys the choice myself and I know they deserve another chance to prove themselves. Believe in me Glynda...I would not have taken this chance if I did not believe it was the right thing to do."

Gylnda was silent and looked off while holding back another complaint building inside her. Ozpin noticed this, "You have other reservations about something?"

Gylnda sighed, "Professor, I question whether it was a rational decision you made when you allowed a boy with history in his name to attend."

Ozpin looked back at her, "I don't believe in judging someone just by what their name has garnered over time. I invited Ms. Schnee not because of the prestige in her name but the volume her skills spoke of. In the end, it is character we must see in a person, not their title."

"I know sir. But I also know that you wish to open your doors to everyone that is willing to accept the task, human and Faunus. But there are some people that can't look past the actions of the past and the scars they've created. I just don't know if many people will be able to look past a name like his and accept the boy beneath the title."

Ozpin looked back over the forest and contemplated the possibility. He swirled his coffee in his mug, "Well...I suppose only time will tell if we can truly move away from the past...and build to a better future."

"I...suppose sir. We will just have to wait until they reach the temple before expecting anything else." Gylnda searched through her Scroll for a moment before something caught her attention, "What did you use for relics this year, sir?"

Ozpin did not answer.

"Sir?"

He continued to look out over the cliff in silence.

"Might it be the reason that the chessboard was clear when I spotted it in your office this morning?"

Ozpin just took a sip of his coffee and continued to wait for his students.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

Yang pushed her way out of a few bushes, a frown on her face from fruitless exploration and multiple leaves and twigs sticking out of her luxurious hair. She ran her hand through her hair before she came out upon a steep hill that ran down into a lower clearing. She looked down before speaking over her shoulder, "Hey, come look at this!"

Following not long after was the black-haired beauty that she had made an acquaintance with last night. Blake stepped up to Yang's side, "What is it?"

They both stood at the top of the hill, just over a large rock formation with several different pillars and pedestals at its ring base.

The two girls stared at it for a moment before the blonde one questioned, "You think this is it?"

"Well considering it's the only man-made formation in the middle of a forest..." Blake gave Yang an uninspired look, "I'd say it's a pretty good guess this is it."

Blake started walking down the hill while Yang pouted, "Well sure, think of it like that and it's obvious." The boxer followed after her bow wearing partner as they made their way down to the abandoned temple.

They stepped on the stone and started walking along the inside of the temple. They were separated as they looked at the objective of their exam. Sitting on top of the pedestals were...

Black and Gold figures.

Blake raised an eyebrow, "The relics are...chess pieces? Are they trying to be symbolic about something or were they just lazy and grabbed the first thing they spotted?"

"Meh, probably a little bit of both." Yang turned around with a smile, "As a fellow procrastinator, I can relate about finding useful stuff at the last minute." Blake gave her a dry look before Yang looked over the pedestals again and noticed some were empty, "A few of the pieces are missing."

"Well there were a lot of other people taking this test." Blake mentioned before walking over to Yang, "It shouldn't be a surprise that other people got here first."

"I'm surprised more of them haven't made it yet." Yang mused before she shrugged her shoulders, "Screw it. They'll get here when they get here. Let's pick one!" She looked over the gold pieces before the horse grabbed her attention and she smiled, "Hey, how about this little horsey?"

"That's a Knight."

"Why's the Knight a horse?"

Blake was silent for a moment before she shrugged in return. They smiled at their triumph at passing the test before they heard some rustling in the bushes away from them. The two girls shared a look before facing the noise and slowly inching towards their weapons...

"You were right! There was something beyond the trees!" A girl with her hair up in buns emerged from the bushes with a huff before looking up at the temple. She then noticed the two girls standing in the middle of the structure and deflated, "Aw man, I thought we'd make it first. Dang it."

Yang and Blake looked between each other before the outgoing blonde smiled and waved her golden chess pieces, "Sorry, but if it makes you feel any better we just got here a moment ago."

"Well I guess that's better than nothing." Tenten looked behind her, "Sasuke, you were right! This was definitely the place we were supposed to go!"

Sasuke came walking out of the forest while dusting himself off, "That's a relief."

"Sasuke! You made it!" Yang waved to her new friend while bringing attention to her chess piece, "The relics are chess pieces! We got the horsey!"

"Knight."

"What she said!"

Sasuke and Tenten made it over to the temple while the raven-haired boy looked around for the excitable young girl in a red hood. He couldn't see her anywhere and looked at the curvaceous blonde, "I guess you couldn't find Ruby in the end?"

"Nah. But she's strong. I'm sure she'll be all right. And maybe she teamed up with Naruto so that'd be a plus." Yang smiled again and gestured to the black clad girl besides her, "Anyway, I got someone else to tie me down! Sasuke, this is Blake! Say hi Blake!"

Blake and Sasuke looked at each other for a moment, feeling the same sense of trepidation and anxiousness they felt when they walked past each other yesterday afternoon. Blake narrowed her eyes but still gave the raven-haired boy a slight nod before walking to look over the remaining chess pieces.

Yang stood there in confusion as her partner walked off before waving the action off as another trait of the black-haired girl, "Oh don't mind her. I'm pretty sure that's how she acts towards everyone she meets."

Sasuke concealed some worry and nodded his head, "Yeah. You're probably right."

"Sasuke!" The sword user turned around and caught a gold Bishop piece tossed into his hand. He looked up to see Tenten grinning, "We passed!"

Sasuke looked down at the piece in his hand before examining it and speaking out loud, "I guess this means not everybody has made it yet, doesn't it?"

Yang showed some concern, "Yeah, guess not."

Blake reassured them, "They must've gotten lost on the way here. It's probably not the best idea to assume the worst just yet."

Tenten walked over to them and smiled in agreement, "Yeah. I'm sure they're fine."

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

"WHY-"

***Slash***

"-DID YOU-"

***Schwip***

"-PISS THEM OFF MORE?!"

Naruto slashed through the head of a Beowolf while shooting another in the back with an arrow. He turned his head, "They were following us! I tried to scare them off! I didn't know they'd get angrier!"

"It's how a pack works! They look out for their own!" Kiba punched one in the head before grabbing its legs and spinning around before throwing it into another group, "And when one idiots kills one of their own, they get angry!"

"Well sorry I didn't think about how they felt when they wanted to kill us! We wouldn't be in this situation if that super nose of yours could actually work!"

"S-shut up!" Kiba defended himself, "This forest is full of animals that have marked their territory and dead Grimm! I can't get a clear trail on-"

"No! No excuses! From now on, we're trusting my gut!" Naruto argued before jumping back from a slash at his head and stood back-to-back with Kiba.

The tattooed student looked around and gripped his tonfa, "Okay. And what does your gut say about this?"

Naruto looked around before stabbing _Stormer_ by his feet. He reached back and pulled more of his short blades out as well as some wire. He gave a confident smirk, "Decimate 'em."

**"Grrrrrrrrr-yip!"**

The Beowolves all started to retreat and run away with a frightful yip. Naruto watched all of the Grimm run away from him with a confused and surprised look before he smiled. He gloated, "Yeah! That's right! Don't mess with Naruto Uzumaki! Learn that and you might just live to see another day!"

Kiba tapped his shoulder.

"Not now man. And another thing-"

Kiba grabbed his shoulder and shook him.

"What? What is it?"

Kiba had a horrified look on his face as he pointed forward. Naruto looked in the same direction and his eyes slowly started to widen in shock. A massive, hunched shadow started to descend over them and a monstrous, guttural growl reached their ears.

"Uh oh."

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

Pyrrha stopped following Jaune in the cramped cave space they currently found themselves in and looked behind her. Her instincts were flaring up for a moment and she wondered why. She looked back forward at her partner, "Do you really think this is the place Professor Ozpin told us to come to?

Jaune turned around while still illuminating the path in front of them with the torch in his hand, "Well this seems like just as good a place as any to hide a relic. Maybe some ancient weapon used in the war? Or some food? I'm pretty hungry."

Pyrrha continued to look around at the barely visible cave drawings lined along the rocks. She continued a few more feet before speaking up, "Jaune, we should probably go back outside. If we haven't found anything yet then this might not be the right place."

"Pyrrha..." Jaune looked back at her with a pained expression before motioning to the torch in his hand, "I made a torch. A torch! This is-like-the most useful I've been in the whole test! Just let me enjoy it a little longer and we can-"

Jaune stumbled and dropped the torch in a murky puddle, instantly extinguishing the flame.

Everything was pitch black.

Pyrrha: "Do you feel that?"

Jaune: "Soul crushing humiliation and regret? Yeah...been feeling that a lot lately."

Pyrrha: "No, not that. I feel something...something...warm..."

A giant yellow glow brightened the pitch black space, making the two students-in-training squint their eyes. They looked forward and saw a strange oblong orb as the source of the light.

Jaune and Pyrrha stepped forward while examining the anomaly.

Pyrrha tilted her head, "What is it?"

"Maybe the relic? It's...pretty."

"Beautiful."

"I feel warm. And happy."

"It's calming."

Jaune reached up to touch it but the light flinched back at his touch. He smiled a little, "Oh, I'm gonna getcha! I'm gonna getcha! I-got it!" Jaune jumped forward and wrapped his arms around the strange light source.

But then he was slowly lifted off his feet and several feet into the air. Jaune hung there, still attached to the light, before eight beady, menacing red eyes opened in front of him.

He shrunk, "Good feeling's gone."

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

The white-haired heiress stood still for a moment while looking at the directions they could take. She started weighing her options, "We should...go this way!"

Ruby sighed from her spot on the ground, "We already went that way."

"Right. I knew that." She stepped back to her original spot and looked around again, "That way!"

"Already did."

"Okay! Give me a minute!" Weiss rubbed her temple and tried to figure out a way for them to find the site as quickly as possible.

Ruby stood back up and dusted off her combat skirt, "Weiss, I think we're lost."

"We're not lost! We're just...I know we can find our way out of here if I can think for a moment."

Ruby tried to reassure her partner, "It's okay to admit it Weiss. Just let me help you and I bet we can work this out."

"I don't need your help." Weiss argued while trying to concentrate on finding their way back, "Lord knows it wasn't any help when you were just running around without a care in the world earlier."

Ruby scrunched her face in annoyance, "Look, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you what I was doing while fighting, but you can't keep holding that against me! It's not fair!"

"Life isn't fair! And if you want to make it out of this then you need to stop acting like a rowdy little child!"

Ruby fumed, "Well then you need to stop acting like a prissy-up bossy pants!"

"How dare you! I am not a prissy-up bossy pants!"

"You so are!"

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Ah!" Weiss threw her hands up in the air in exasperation, "You're such a brat! Why did you even come to this school?!"

Ruby stood there for a moment and showed a slightly hurt expression before shaking her head. She steeled her eyes, "Y'know, I didn't ask to be brought here early. Do you know how scared I am coming to the school of my dreams and feeling like I'm not wanted? I'm terrified. I feel like I'm gonna throw up. But...even if you hate me and we can't get along, I'm not gonna stop trying to be your partner. Because I promised myself no matter what happens, I'd become a Huntress and pass Beacon."

Weiss looked at Ruby as the hooded girl walked over to a large tree and clapped her hands, "If you don't wanna work with me then that's fine. I'll figure a way out of here." She jumped on the base of the tree and started to shimmy her way up to the top.

Weiss watched in surprise as the red clad girl made her way up the tree. She looked around and tried to figure a better way to find their destination before looking back at her determined partner. She sighed before running up to the tree and started making her way up, "Hold on! Don't do this by yourself!"

The two mismatched girls continued climbing up to the top of the tree. Weiss struggled, "C-can you hold on for a moment! I'm not as fast at climbing these as you!"

Ruby yelled down, "What?! Haven't you ever climbed a tree before?!"

"No! As a matter of fact I haven't!"

"Well it's easy! Deep breath! One foot in front of the other! Oh, and don't look down! You fall if you look down!"

Weiss panicked and held herself even closer to the tree.

The two students made their way to a more concentrated, bushier top of the tree. Ruby looked around in every direction to try and spot a difference, "I don't see anything!"

Weiss shook her head, "I'm having second thoughts about this!"

"Don't worry! You'll be fine!" Ruby squinted her eyes, "Hey! There aren't so many trees over there! Let's try that spot!"

Weiss clung to the prickly pines even tighter, "This was a bad idea! Why did we have to climb to the very top?!"

"We can see everything from up here! And the pine tree is easy to hold on to!"

"But why is the top of this tree a pine tree?! None of the other trees have anything else like this?!"

Ruby thought for a moment, "Um...I don't know! That's a good question!"

"And the pines are black!"

"And feathery!"

"And warm!"

Ruby gulped for a moment before looking down, "Weiss, maybe we should climb down?! Before anything...Weiss?"

Ruby looked down to see the white-haired heiress looking up at her with stark white, horrified eyes. She slowly pointed up and Ruby followed her gaze. She looked up just in time to catch the gaze of two slitted, menacing red eyes along a white beak.

The girls froze in fear as the giant Nevermore they were clinging to started to unfurl its wings. The Grimm spread out to its full wingspan and started gathering a gust to lift itself.

"Birdie no."

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

**_Done_**

**_In case I didn't convey it clearly or it wasn't obvious yet, Naruto's weapons incorporate swords and wires as strings. Making his fighting style elaborate and cool but a pain to write. Oh well, I still think it's cool. When he holds his blades between his knuckles, just imagine it like Masamune from the Sengoku Basara series._**

**_Or Wolverine. Whichever is clearer._**

**_ReadxReview_**

**_Thank You and Bye_**


	5. Final Play

Hunting or Bust

Dust 5: Final Play

Okay, this was the first time I had ever did such a big fighting scene with multiple people battling at the same time. Please tell me if you guys enjoyed.

I didn't say anything about this last time so I'll take a moment to say this now:

X-RAY AND VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAV!

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

And he had thought that riding an airship was the most nauseating experience there possibly was.

Boy was he wrong.

To his credit he had been holding onto this stinger much longer than most people probably would.

Jaune screamed, "PYRRHA! I DON'T FEEL SO GOOD!"

His red-headed partner was slowly stepping back with _Miló_ out to protect herself as the hulking Death Stalker shifted towards her. The giant scorpion Grimm let out low but loud hisses as it snipped at Pyrrha, waving its tail and subsequently Jaune around over its head.

Pyrrha held her sword out in a protective stance as she tried to calm her endangered partner, "Jaune! Don't worry! Stay calm!"

"TOO LATE!" Jaune's face was turning paler by the moment before he yelled, "CAN AURA DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS?!"

"N-no, but it's all right. Just keep a firm grip and don't panic, and everything should be-"

The Death Stalker stopped moving and just let Jaune hang from its stinger. It then pulled its tail back as far as possible before flicking forward at breakneck speed.

Jaune was flung off and over the trees, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-"

Jaune disappeared over the tree tops while his screaming voice faded with his form. Pyrrha watched her partner disappear in horror before she realized she was currently all alone in a small space with a massive Grimm.

She giggled nervously before sprinting towards the trees and away from the monster as quickly as possible.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

The four First Years gathered at the temple heard several shrill screams carry over the forest. Tenten looked around, "Did you guys hear that?"

"Sounds like someone's in trouble."

Yang pocketed their chess piece and cracked her knuckles, "We gotta help! Sasuke, you guys go that way, look for someone in trouble! Blake, you come with me and-Blake what's wrong?"

Her black-clad partner was standing in place, a look of confusion over her face while she stared up at the sky. Without looking at Yang, she pointed up at the sky and brought their attention to the creature flying overhead.

They all looked up in time to spot the massive Nevermore flying over them as it let out a shrill shriek that pierced their ears. The creature had feathers that were darker than the blackest night and a skull covered in a long bone-like beak.

Tenten took a step back before pulling out a knife in preparation to fight, "What the heck is a Nevermore doing here?"

While the massive Grimm flew above them, it steered right and a small red dot fell off its side. The students all watched the little dot fall off the Grimm and watched in confusion, "Is that-"

"Yaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnggggggg~, catcH ME!" Ruby screamed as she came towards the ground while waving her arms rapidly.

"Ruby?!" Yang yelled before she ran forward and opened her arms to catch her little sister, "I got you!"

Ruby was falling towards Yang's open arms for a safe landing...until a screaming Jaune came flying out of nowhere and slammed into the hooded girl until they both landed in a tree off to the side.

Yang was left standing there with a blank look on her face. Sasuke looked at the tree they had flown into and raised an eyebrow, "Was that Jaune? Where did he come from?"

Blake walked up to her partner, "Was your sister riding a Nevermore?"

Before Yang could answer, there was a few booms before a loud roar coming from the side. They all looked to see a large Ursa come running out and stand up before several pinks blasts exploded on its back.

It fell forward dead and revealed the laughing, peppy orange-haired girl on its back. She jumped on it some more to try and start it back up before moaning sadly, "Ah, it's broken." She jumped off the Grimm before patting the corpse's head, "Good boy."

A moment later, a young man clad in a green outfit with a pink highlight in his hair emerged from the forest. He was breathing heavily and placed a hand on the Ursa's dead body for support, "N-Nora, don't run off like that anymore. We need to stick together-Nora?"

The hyper ginger had already disappeared from the Ursa's back, surprising everyone that didn't notice her quick movement. They looked behind them to see Nora already leaning over to look all the chess pieces closely. She hummed to herself until she spotted the gold rook piece and snatched it up without a second thought.

She balanced it on her head and danced, "~I'm queen of the castle~. ~I'm queen of the castle~. ~I'm queen of the-"

"NORA!"

She stopped dance and the chess piece fell off her head before she laughed, "Sorry Ren. But look, we got the little rock thing!"

The others just stared at her before Blake spoke, "Did she ride in on an Ursa?"

Sasuke shook his head, "What the heck is going on?"

"Ruby~!"

They looked back up at the Nevermore and noticed a small white dot in the collection of its black feathers. The little white speck yelled in a shrill voice, "When I get down from here I am going to give you such a stern talking to!"

"Weiss?!"

"Is she still holding on to that Nevermore?"

**"Ssssssssshishhhhhhhhh."**

They all heard a blaring hiss reach their ears and looked towards the other side of the forest. Pyrrha came running out desperately as the trees behind her were knocked down when the massive scorpion Grimm came chasing after her. The deadly beast had old and chipped bone armor and was snapping at the girl with its giant pincers.

She yelled, "Jaune!"

Jaune answered from where he hung in the tree, "Pyrrha!"

Tenten's jaw dropped, "Pyrrha?!"

"Is that girl getting chased by a Death Stalker?"

Nora bounced in place, "That looks like fun! I wanna try next!"

Ruby jumped down from the tree and came over to where everyone was standing in front of the temple. She watched the chaos happening in front of her, "Woah, what happened?"

Tenten looked down at the shorter girl, "Pandemonium."

Ruby blinked and then looked at all the gathered students before panicking, "Wait, where's Weiss?!"

They all pointed up and she looked to see her partner still clinging to the Nevermore.

"-aaaaaaaaaAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Everyone looked to the left and watched as Kiba came sprinting out of the trees for dear life. He stopped and looked behind him for a moment before diving towards the temple for safety, "HOLY CRAP!"

A giant Beowolf came running out of the forest, long spires of bone coming off its limbs and along its face. And unlike regular Beowolves, this Alpha Wolf's hind legs were more pronounced and it was far more accustomed to staying on all four legs for speed. And the massive beast was howling angrily while trying to throw off the whiskered teen that had secured himself on the back of its neck.

"Naruto?!"

Sasuke rubbed his temple, "God dammit."

It started bucking and swinging around while Naruto held on for dear life, "STOP! I'M TRYING TO PROVE A POI-OH CRAP!"

The Alpha Wolf charged forward through the clearing and passed alongside the Death Stalker as it chased Pyrrha, Weiss still screaming while clinging to the Nevermore in the sky.

Blake watched the boy still clinging to the wolf Grimm, "Did that boy come riding in on an Alpha Wolf?"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" They all jumped back as Yang screamed at the top of her lungs, fire bursting off her form and her lilac eyes changing to deep red. She screamed, "Enough! Stop it! Just stop! Would everyone just calm down for two freakin' seconds before anything else crazy happens!"

...

...

They all stayed quiet after Yang's little outburst and just gave the fiery blond a few seconds to calm down. Sasuke looked back over to the clearing before walking over and moving Yang over to her right. He walked back to his spot and gently pulled Ruby closer to her left.

"-AHHHHHH!" Naruto's body came soaring between the two girls until he broke through the ruins behind them. He screamed, "OW!"

Yang groaned and hung her head while Blake patted her back.

Meanwhile, Kiba grumbled on the ground and rubbed his head. He felt someone grab his arm and help him back to his feet. He groaned, "Thanks."

He looked up to see the same quirky orange-haired girl that terrorized him yesterday, "Hi Guy Who Doesn't Not Like Dogs!"

Kiba frowned, "Ugh. Hey Nora." He turned and looked to the boy besides him with a nod, "Ren."

"Kiba."

"You." Yang pointed at the tattooed boy, "Alpha Wolf. Screaming. Naruto. Explain."

"Me and him were looking for this place after helping the little kid and her annoying partner. But Naruto killed a Beowolf that was stalking us and that pissed off the rest of its pack." Kiba dusted off his animal paw jacket and pants, "We held them off for awhile until their boss came and started attacking us instead."

Blake took a moment to look between the large Grimm that was still trying to mend the wound on the back of its neck and the boy that was still buried under all the rubble. She asked inquisitively, "Then why was he riding it?"

Kiba thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, "It's all kind of a blur. There was some yelling, some arguing, I think there was a bet, and then I was being chased by that thing while that idiot rode on its back."

Sasuke just sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He silently wondered if he should count his blessings that this new guy would have to deal with Naruto's crazy and spontaneous actions from now on.

"RUBY~!"

Everybody looked back up to see that Weiss had now moved herself down to the Nevermore's talons. She was hanging off the end and yelled at the top of her lungs, "This was a terrible idea! Why did you let go?!"

Ruby cupped her hands, "Why didn't you?!"

Tenten: "Should we help her?"

Blake: "She's gonna fall."

Ruby: "She'll be fine, right?"

Sasuke: "If she doesn't panic then she'll find a way out of this."

Yang: "She's panicking."

Ren: "She's falling."

Jaune had finally dislodged himself from a branch he was hanging on and rubbed his sore arms and legs. He walked to the edge of the branch and looked up just in time to see the beautiful but cold heiress from earlier falling from the sky.

He grinned when he realized the situation playing in front of him.

Weiss scrunched her face and prepared for the painful landing she was going to feel until she felt a pair of arms catch under her. She opened her eyes to see Jaune jumping in to save her with a warming smile, "Hey, it looked like you could use some help. I hope you don't mind that I dropped in."

Weiss blinked in surprise, "Wow. I...I didn't know you could fly, Jaune."

"I do what now?"

The fantasy they found themselves in disappeared and they realized they were hanging in the air. Jaune let out a tiny whimper before they both fell back towards the ground while screaming. Jaune landed squarely on his back as Weiss landed on his stomach. Jaune groaned painfully before he laid unmoving.

Weiss stood up and dusted off her skirt before walking away coldly, "Thanks for the help Jaune."

He coughed, "My insides. They've become outside goop."

There was a metal hum and Pyrrha was knocked over towards the rest of the gathered students. Yang clapped, "Yay, the gang's all here! So, who wants to die first?"

"Not just yet." Ruby pulled _Crescent Rose_ off her back and gripped it tightly before charging forward at the closest Grimm, the Death Stalker. She cheered, "Yahoo!"

She swung the scythe and it was lodged between the pincers of the scorpion. She smiled happily until she realized that her weapon was stuck and incapable of pulling away. The Alpha Wolf jumped over the armored Grimm and swiped at the girl in front of it, causing her to stumble back after pulling herself free.

"Ruby!" Yang ran towards her sister as some of the other Grimm started pouncing at her. Sasuke, Tenten, Blake, Kiba, and Nora followed behind as Ruby looked up just in time to see the Death Stalker's stinger come down on her.

But before it could strike her, a wall of ice popped up between the hooded girl and the deadly creatures. Weiss appeared by Ruby's side and grabbed her under the arm before a Glyph appeared under her feet and they rocketed back towards the temple.

They were in a safe spot away from the Grimm where Weiss placed Ruby back on the ground. Ruby looked up at the older girl as she shook her head, "This is what I was talking about! You are too impulsive! It's all fine and dandy to be confident but charging into a fight like that is just sheer arrogance! You see why I can't take you seriously?!"

Ruby looked up at the white-clad girl and felt her expression fall at the truth behind her words now.

"But you're right."

Ruby looked back up to see Weiss with an apologetic expression, "You're right. I haven't even bothered to give you a chance to help. I just assumed the worst because of your screw ups. Your many...many screw ups." The usually haughty and refined look on her face softened as she looked down at the girl, "We both have a lot to work on if we want to be partners at school..."

She offered her hand and gave a small smile, "So can we work together and put everything behind us?"

Ruby looked at Weiss in surprise...

Before she instantly wrapped her arms and legs around the heiress and gave her a huge hug, "Weiss! I knew your heart wasn't completely frozen over!"

Weiss sputtered, "W-what does that mean?!"

Immediately, Yang came flying in and wrapped her arms around both Ruby and Weiss, "I was so worried about you! Don't ever hang on to a giant Nevermore ever again!"

Ruby hugged even tighter, "I missed you too Yang! I promise I won't!"

"O-okay, that's enough!" Weiss whined uncomfortably between the two sisters, "That's enough with the hugging!"

Pyrrha was assisted to her feet by Tenten and Ren while Jaune slowly made his way to the big group. All eleven First Years stood together and Ruby looked between them, "Is this everybody?"

Sasuke shook his head, "No. Still missing someone."

The pile of rubble behind them got tossed aside and Naruto walked out while coughing into his hand. He swung his arms in front of him while walking over to Kiba, "Uh. Okay Kiba, you were right, there wasn't a weak spot on the nape of the wolf's neck. Just a rumor."

They looked at him strangely, "You climbed on the back of a Grimm and slashed its neck to kill it because you heard a rumor?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "Seemed as good a place to kill one as any. Oh!" Naruto reached behind him and pulled out a chess pieces before tossing it to his partner, "Look what I got!"

Kiba caught it and looked it over. It was a bishop piece, and just like the others its bottom was gold plated. But unlike the others, the rest of its body was scarlet red. He smirked and held it up, "Awesome! We did it!"

The others looked at the odd piece and Blake spoke up, "Why is it a different color than ours?"

Naruto smiled, "Oh, that's because I pulled that one out of my spleen!"

Everyone's eyes widened and looked at the bandana wearing blond in shock. A few of them leaned back to see several splotches of blood all over the back of his vest. Kiba looked down at the piece in disgust, "Tell me you're kidding."

"I'm not. Actually, you might wanna give that back before you catch something."

Kiba gagged and tossed the bloody piece into Naruto's awaiting hand as Kiba wiped his hands on his jacket. Naruto pocketed the piece before looking back up, "So, can we all leave before the beasties come back?"

"Wait!" Jaune ran up the steps of the temple, "I still need to grab a piece!"

"Me too!" Ruby disappeared in a burst of speed and looked over the pieces attentively, "Which one do I get?!"

"The horsey Ruby!" Yang waved her piece over her head, "Get the horsey! It's adorable!"

Blake shook her head, not even bothering to correct her mistake anymore.

Ruby picked the knight while Jaune fumbled the rook in his hand. They both looked at each other and nodded before pocketing their respective piece.

They heard a loud crash and looked over to see the protective ice barrier was destroyed and the Grimm were making their way over. Pyrrha stepped back, "I think it's time to go!

"RUN!"

All twelve trainees sprinted away from the temple and into the forest. They ran as fast as they could to try and put distance between them and the hulking Grimms.

**"AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

**"Ssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhish!"**

They looked back to see the Death Stalker and Alpha Wolf barreling through the trees after them. Obviously, it wasn't going to be as easy as they thought.

**"CAWWWWWWWWWWWW!"**

Looking up, the Nevermore could be spotted soaring over them and following their escape route.

"Uh, those things aren't giving up!"

"Keep moving!"

The students ran through the tree line and ended up in another set of ruins. Along the sides were large pillars holding up platforms and a massive structure built alongside the cliff that bridged the two plateaus.

While the First Years ran by the pillars to escape from sight, the Nevermore came flying over them and perched itself at the top of the highest point on the structure. It spread its wings, **"CAWWWW!"**

The students all stopped while staring up at the massive crow. They ducked behind the pillars with their partners and peeked around the corner to spot the flying Grimm remain on its perch. Yang, Blake, Jaune, Pyrrha, Sasuke, and Tenten underneath the left set with the rest underneath the right.

Yang yelled so everyone could hear her, "I don't think that big guy is gonna let us go anytime soon!"

Pyrrha looked back and saw the scorpion break through the trees, "The Death Stalker has our flank!"

The Grimm stayed in place and just watched the young Hunters try to hide from their sights. The students waited for the monsters to make the first move but were confused that they didn't seem to jump at the chance to attack.

Ruby looked between the patient monsters, "What are they doing?!"

Ren peeked around the corner, "They're waiting for something!"

"What?!"

Naruto finished tying his weapons together and narrowed his eyes, "An opportunity."

There was a loud slam on top of the right roof of pillars and everyone on the left side looked up to see the Alpha Wolf perched on top. It snarled its large teeth until it threw its head back and took a deep breath...

**"AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

The beast howled and deafened everyone in the vicinity as a massive torrent of wind started to blow across the left side of the ruins. The students tried to stand against the powerful gust but Jaune and Yang were blown out of their cover and into the open.

Nora opened an eye to see the others in danger and stopped covering her ears. She pulled _Magnhild_ off her back and stepped out of cover to fire Dust grenades at the giant Beowolf. The Grimm jumped back out of the line of fire long enough to stop the wind and painful shriek.

The Nevermore raised its wings and flapped them forward until dozens of razor sharp feathers flew down towards the ground.

Tenten saw this happen and threw her hands out at Yang and Jaune, two metal chains coming out of her sleeves and wrapping around their arms. She yanked back quickly and pulled them into cover as the black feathers littered the ground around them.

"NORA!"

The peppy girl looked up in time to see several sharp feathers fly towards her. Ren jumped out of cover and pulled _StormFlower_ out of his sleeves. He stood defensively in front of his partner and deflected several feathers with his weapons and Aura.

The feathers stopped flying down and Kiba ran out to look up at the wolf perched over them. He gritted his teeth while pulling _Crimson Fang_ off his belt, the tonfa mechanically extending along his arms.

He activated his Semblance, his hair and teeth growing spikier and more pronounced. He lowered himself on all fours and punched the ground, rocketing himself up overhead and punching the Alpha Wolf's nose, "WRAAAAAA!"

The Grimm stumbled back as the brown-haired boy landed in a crouch in front of it. The wolf spun around to attack with its tail but Kiba spun over the attack with amazing agility. He started charging forward to hit the beast but whenever he got close the monster would swipe at him with its claws. The Feral boy continued to back up and dodge as the Grimm attacked to kill.

Ren helped Nora up to her feet as the Death Stalker came scurrying its way over to attack them. But as its pincer stretched out to crush them, six shorts swords flew into the ground in front of it and pulled the whiskered blond in to guard them. He gripped _Stormer_ in his right hand while his _Gatling_ blades rested along the back of his arms. He swung his long blade and ten smaller swords immediately followed it, knocking the Death Stalker's massive appendages back.

He then slid in closer and started swiping his sword and hands in every directions, causing all of his swords to dance and slash the hulking beast in front of him. But even with the speed and power of his multi-blade slash, the Grimm's armor showed no signs of breaking.

The others came running out of cover and watched two of the Grimm being held off but not showing any signs of defeat. Yang scowled, "What do we do now?"

Jaune watched as Naruto and that brown-haired guy fought back their enemies with assistance from Ren and Nora. He looked back and watched the massive crow start stretching its wings again for a second attack. He gulped before grabbing _Crocea Mors_, "Pyrrha!"

The scarlet-haired warrior looked over to her partner as a determination glowed in his eyes, "You're good with that rifle, right? Hold off that bird as long as you can and make sure it doesn't throw any more feathers!" Pyrrha nodded and her spear came down to her arms before changing into a rifle. He looked over to Ruby, "You got the sniper! Make sure you can use it! Anyone else that can shoot far, go hold off that thing as long as possible! Nora, you too!"

Ruby and Weiss looked between each other and nodded before they joined Pyrrha and ran over to the edge of the bridge to fire off their weapons. Nora stopped firing her grenade launcher before saluting to the blond and sprinting over to the cliff side.

Jaune looked up at Kiba holding off the Alpha Wolf, "That thing's too big to fight on a small surface like that! Anyone who can fight close to it, get up there and show it what you can do!"

Yang gave a cocky grin and let her gauntlets spread over her arms. She pounded them together before running over to jump on the platform. Sasuke and Tenten shared a look before running over to join the close-quarters fight.

Jaune took a deep breath before looking over to Blake, "We're handling the ugly one!"

They ran over and joined the Death Stalker fight as Naruto and Ren were running around its legs and slicing them. Naruto's blades swung around him like a protective barrier while Ren made swift strikes to its joints. The monster squealed before Ren came over to its face and started shooting at its eyes, causing it to cry in pain.

The Grimm scampered back and shrieked in pain as Naruto came running over to Ren's side. The Death Stalker growled lowly before spinning around with unnatural speed and swung its tail at them just in time for Jaune to dive forward and block the attack with his shield.

The blond knight was sent flying back and slammed into Naruto as Blake watched them get knocked over. She pulled out her metal sheathe and ninjato before sprinting forward to attack. The Death Stalker saw her charge forward and caught her in-between its pincer but her body faded into nothing and she appeared in front of its eyes.

She started swiping her heavy sheathe and sharp ninjato against the creature's exposed eyes before it started trying to crush her again. She expertly started cartwheeling away from its attack and stood far enough away that she changed her blade into its pistol form. She and Ren started shooting at the creature's most vulnerable spots until it jerked forward and pierced the ground with its stinger, blowing them back with the force behind the attack.

Blake groaned and stood back up with a shake of her head. Before she could make another move, the bandana wearing boy came running over to her side and pulled the long black cloth attached to her weapon out of her hand. He ran forward before looking back and grinning, conveying a message to her that he had a plan.

Blake immediately realized what he was planning and nodded before bracing herself.

With a might roar, Naruto pulled the cloth over his head and yanked the bow wearing girl off the ground and into the air. Blake gave a loud yell before landing on the Death Stalker's head and slamming her sheathe down to attack.

She wrapped the ribbon around her hand and pulled Naruto forward to follow. The whiskered man landed on the Grimm's head and smirked before unwrapping the ribbon from his hand. He threw his arms up and his blades stayed over his head with help from his wires.

He gripped his fists and all of the compartments opened on the swords.

"WRAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Naruto started punching the Grimm's armor and dozens of hollow-point arrows started impacting the same area around them. He roared loudly as the monster squealed and hissed in pain with the marathon of powerful strikes hitting its head. The Death Stalker swung its tail over its head to hit the two teenagers standing on it but Naruto wrapped an arm around the beauty's waist and jumped.

They landed in the grass away from the Grimm before separating from each other. Blake wiped her shorts before nodding at Naruto, "Thanks."

He nodded back, "No problem."

Pyrrha, Ruby, Nora, and Weiss were all firing projectiles at the crow Grimm as explosions littered its massive black wings. Pyrrha and Ruby fired their long-range weapons and Weiss started firing as many projectiles of fire and ice as she possibly could.

Nora had her tongue stuck out happily as she fired grenades.

The Nevermore spread out its wings and started lifting off the middle spire. It turned and started flying over the massive trench while screeching. Weiss continued to use her Glyphs and Dust to attack before speaking up, "Are we actually doing anything to hurt it?!"

"I hope so!" Ruby yelled back as she kept pulling the slide and trigger of her sniper, "I'm almost out of rounds!"

Pyrrha lowered her rifle and shook her head, "This isn't working! Its body is too strong for just our bullets to pierce it! We need something more!"

Nora thought for a moment before grinning knowingly. She spun her grenade launcher and it extended into a massive war hammer. She slammed it into the ground and pushed a large chunk of rock out of the earth. She jumped to the side before pulling the hammer back and smiling, "FORE!"

She swatted the massive chunk of rock out of the ground and it flew dozens of feet into the air. Before finally slamming into the Nevermore's back, **"CAWWWWWWWW!"**

The other girls blinked before looking at Nora in surprise as she hefted her hammer over her shoulder. Ruby looked over at her with a slacked jaw, "That...was awesome."

Pyrrha nodded, "Quite ingenious."

Nora waved off their compliments, "Ah, it was no big deal."

"I agree." Weiss pointed upwards with a displeased tone, "It's circling around."

Recovering from the sudden heavy hit, the Nevermore let out another shrieking cry before diving down towards the group of ladies. It flapped its wings and another wave of giant black feathers started flying down at them.

The girls dived and rolled out of the way as the feathers littered the ground around them. Weiss rolled onto her knees before swiping her rapier and pointing her index and middle finger up at the Grimm.

A silver Glyph appeared around the Nevermore's neck before turning black and holding it in place, its body jerking around trying to escape. Pyrrha and Nora looked between each other and nodded. Pyrrha gripped _Miló_ as it extended into its spear form and she hefted it onto her shoulder. Nora pulled her hammer back and slammed into the bottom of the spear as it shot off towards the captured crow.

The red and gold spear pierced through the Grimm's chest and blew out the other side. It let out a shriek of pure agony as it finally broke out of its constraints and soared upwards. The girls watched it fly while Pyrrha effortlessly caught her spear again.

They injured it. But it still wasn't even close to keeling over.

The Alpha Wolf swiped at Kiba and knocked him over the platform as Yang came charging in with fists at the ready. She started throwing punch after punch at the massive monster's jaw but the beast kept dodging by a hair's breadth.

A metal chain wrapped around one of its legs and neck before pulling it together. The wolf's snarled as Tenten struggled to keep it pinned. She looked at her partner, "Go!"

Sasuke pulled his sword out and started swinging down on the wolf's head, smacking it around wildly. As it tried to bite down on him, Yang came in from the side and slammed her explosive fist into its cheek. Sasuke and Yang started trading blows against the monster's face with sword slashes and powerful punches.

The Grimm growled angrily and pulled on the chain before spinning around and sending Tenten flying over the side. It broke the chain and lurched forward to chomp down on the two offensive teens. Sasuke and Yang jumped back before cocking their weapons and shooting the exposed body of the monster.

The Grimm became furious and spun to slam them away with its tail. Sasuke was pushed back but Yang braced herself and caught the fluffy black tail in her arms. The beast struggled to pull away but Yang yelled and kept herself firmly planted in the ground.

Kiba came jumping back over the side with an animalistic roar and slammed his fists down on the wolf's nose. He vaulted back in front of the large monster and sent a barrage of rocket-powered punches into its stomach.

**"AROOOOOOOOOOO!"**

The large Beowolf smacked Kiba away and lifted Yang off the platform before flicking her off its tail. The Grimm growled before looking below the platform to try and find another victim to terrorize. Its eyes focused on the white-haired girl attacking the crow and started snarling its teeth.

Sasuke lifted himself off the ground with a groan just in time to see the Alpha Wolf jumping back to the ground. It roared and charged over to the cliff side towards the four distracted girls and the heiress standing the furthest back. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and his pupils changed to deep red before bracing himself for to move.

The wolf ran and lunged forward to bite down on the unsuspecting ponytailed girl. But as it chomped down, it bit down on nothing but thin air.

"W-what are you doing?!"

They all looked towards the bridge connecting the cliff side and suspended structure over the trench. Standing a good distance in on the bridge was Sasuke with Weiss cradled in his arms in a bridal carry. He yelled to his surprised comrades, "The Alpha is closing in! Move in and cover the back!"

They turned around and saw the Alpha perched on all fours and roaring at them. Ruby yelped before changing her weapon into its scythe form and swinging it around her shoulder. The beast lunged forward at her but she swatted its claws away with _Crescent Rose_. Her, Nora, and Pyrrha all started to retreat across the bridge while shooting at the approaching beast.

Weiss started squirming around in his arms before being lowered back to her feet. She wiped off her skirt and looked up at the raven-haired boy to scold him on grabbing her and question how he appeared over here so quickly. But when she looked up at him and the serious look in his eyes, she froze before quietly muttering, "Thank you for the assistance."

Tenten helped Yang stand back up and shake her head before looking over to see her little sister being forced back by the Grimm. She panicked and ran over to help, "RUBY!"

The others looked over and Jaune saw his partner in trouble, "Pyrrha!"

Naruto, Blake, and Ren took a moment to see where everyone was gathering but they were knocked aside by the Death Stalker charging forward to the cliff side. They stood back up before immediately charging after the Grimm to stop it from surrounding their comrades.

Ren leapt up and grabbed the stinger before he started stabbing the joint between the tail and the stinger. The scorpion started squealing and shrieking in pain as Ren continued stabbing the weak area. He grit his teeth before deciding to shoot rounds into the exposed injury.

**"SHISHHHHHHHHHH!"**

The massive Grimm started running into the pillars while wailing in pain. The others kept sprinting towards the bridge to help their friends hold off the predators. Some of them finally ran onto the bridge and pulled out their weapons while surrounding the Alpha Wolf in a pincer formation.

The giant wolf Grimm lowered itself closer to the ground...before vaulting high over their heads and further into the bridged structure just as the Nevermore flew down and broke the bridge with its wing.

The bridge started to collapse, the rubble falling into the near bottomless trench beneath them. The students realized what was happening and started running to a side that was still holding together.

But in the pandemonium Yang, Tenten, and Nora had been caught in the destruction and were falling with the debris. Pyrrha saw Nora sliding off a stray boulder and jumped off the side to grab the hammer wielding girl. Naruto and Blake looked over the side to see the girls falling through the air and into the abyss.

Blake jumped over the side and threw her _Gambol Shroud_ in its sickle form to stick into another point in the temple. She gripped the black ribbon wrapped around her arm and swung down just in time to catch Yang's hand and save her from the fall. They swung around a pillar and flew up to land on the center platform besides Ruby, Weiss, and Sasuke.

Naruto extended the wire holding _Gatling Stormer_ along his arms and launched the largest sword across the gap and into the bottom pillar. He pulled the wires and they made a jump post they could vault off from. Tenten caught a hold of the wires and launched herself onto the main platform as Pyrrha grabbed Nora and ran along the wires back onto the cliff.

Pyrrha landed in a crouch before standing back up and lowered the shorter girl back onto the ground. Nora cheered, "Woohoo! Let's do it again! This time with blindfolds!"

The group on the main structure of the steeple looked across the gap at their rescued comrades. Yang sighed in relief, "I guess we can take a sec to breathe now."

They felt a hefty wave of hot air bear down from behind them. Slowly, the six teenagers turned around to see the Alpha Wolf make its way around the center spire and stare down on them with its red eyes.

Ruby gulped, "That's a big breath."

It swung its paw down to crush them as Sasuke dashed forward to block the strike with his sheathe. He knocked the claw back and swiped the paw while Tenten jumped off his back and threw dozens of swords and knives at the Grimm's face. Ruby dashed under its belly and swiped its legs out from underneath as Blake jumped up and bashed its head in with both of her blades.

It roared and spun on its paws to swipe them away from its face. They jumped back and ran around the middle spire to get some space on another larger bridge that led to the huge plateau in front of them. Yang stopped running and swung her arms down to cock her gauntlets before rapidly punching at the oncoming wolf. Flaming shotgun blasts started littering the massive monster's body as it roared in pain and howled.

Weiss took advantage of the Grimm's hesitation to get into her fencing stance and dash forward with the extra power of her Glyph. With the enhanced power of her strike, the short girl was able to completely blow the Alpha Wolf off its paws and against the spire behind it.

Sasuke leapt up onto a pillar before dashing down and pressing the trigger of his sheathe, pulling his sword out at amazing speeds and slashing the massive monster multiple times in an instant. He landed on the ground before pulling the trigger again and firing the shotgun end of his sheathe into the monster's exposed neck.

The beast fell to its stomach, unmoving, and appeared like it had made its last stand. The students all slowly prepared their weapons and stayed on guard while glaring at the creature. It immediately leapt up and knocked the Uchiha and Schnee back several yards before roaring as loudly as possible.

They were going to need to do something much bigger if they wanted to end this monster once and for all.

Ren had been holding onto the Death Stalker's stinger while it thrashed around wildly like a bull. While he held on tightly, he continued to shoot at the joint connecting the deadly stinger and the annoying tail. Until finally he ripped through and punctured most of the fibers holding it together and the yellow stinger was barely kept attached.

The Grimm scorpion let out a ghastly wail before slamming its tail on the ground and pinning the boy with the pink highlight underneath. Nora screamed, "REN!"

Ren coughed and sat up as the Grimm turned around and hissed at him menacingly, its mandibles shaking violently. But before it could start chewing on the young man, Kiba came flying down from overhead and slammed his fists down on its eyes. It's back legs flew up from the massive power from his slam before he grabbed under its mandibles and tossed it onto its back.

While the monster flailed around on the ground, Kiba grabbed Ren by his collar before dashing over to the rest of their comrades. The two young men appeared besides the rest of their friends before taking in deep breathes. Ren sat up on the ground before looking at his savior, "Thanks for the help Kiba."

Kiba panted, "Used Semblance...too long...gonna..keel over..."

Naruto patted his partner on the back before looking back over at the Grimm as it finally rolled over onto its legs. He glared, "That Nevermore's still flying over us and we gotta help the others with the wolf! Can't we break this thing's armor with something?!"

Jaune looked between everyone around him and back at the scorpion looking their way. That armor was tough but it didn't cover its whole body. It couldn't stand back up after falling on its back. And its stinger was barely still attached after Ren had injured it.

Idea.

"We don't have to break its armor!" The others all looked towards Jaune as he came up with a plan, "We just need to expose its belly and get that stinger! Pyrrha, you and I will cut that thing off! Naruto, you and Kiba have to flip it over somehow!" He started moving forward, "Nora, when you see a chance, take it!"

They watched Jaune dart forward while yelling as his partner chased after him, "Jaune!"

Jaune yelled wildly as the Death Stalker saw him coming and raised its pincer. It swiped and Jaune blocked it with his shield while flying backwards. He rolled on the ground a few times until he finally landed on his knees and held the shield close to his back as a vaulting point.

Pyrrha's eyes widened before she finally realized what he was planning. _Miló_ and _Akoúo_ came to her hands and she jumped off his shield before cutting off the last fibers attaching the stinger to the tail.

**"SHHIISHHHHHHH!"**

Naruto tossed two of his smaller blades to his partner and they jumped apart as the wires tightened. They roared and charged forward as they caught the Grimm's appendages and body in the steel trap. They yelled and with a burst of strength pushed forward and flung the monster up in the air.

Jaune slid forward and bounced the severed stinger off his shield before Pyrrha kicked it back to Nora. The crazy orange-haired girl had her hammer pulled back and grinned before jumping and batting the severed appendage with her full force.

The stinger flew at extraordinary speeds over their heads before barreling through the Death Stalker's chest and out the other side. The Grimm fell to the earth dead and its legs curled up in the air unmoving, a massive hole through its entire body.

It was dead.

They had killed an old, experienced, very powerful Grimm. And very effectively.

**"CAWWWWWWWW!"**

**"AROOOOOOOOO!"**

Right. This still wasn't over.

The six of them all ran over to the cliff side and watched as their friends fought off the Alpha Wolf on the constricted space while the Nevermore flew overhead.

The gap was too big and they couldn't help from here.

Naruto looked from the steeple, up at the Nevermore flying in the sky, and back at his friends. He looked to Kiba, "How hard can you throw?"

Kiba caught his breath before grunting, "Pretty damn hard."

He yelled over the gap, "RUBY!" The hooded girl stopped fighting for a moment to look over to the cliff side as Naruto hollered, "WE'RE SETTING UP FOR THE KILL! GET READY!"

She was silent for a moment before showing a powerful determination and nodding in return.

Naruto looked up at the giant crow before gripping his fists and opening the blade compartments. He started firing arrows upward, "DON'T LET IT ESCAPE!"

Kiba, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora all joined and started shooting upwards at the black bird to keep it restricted in one place. It squawked and started jerking around wildly. Naruto and Kiba ran over to the side as Nora and Pyrrha followed. Pyrrha knelt down and held her shield over her head as Nora flipped her weapon and held the explosive end against the shield.

Naruto and Kiba stood besides each other before the brown-haired boy asked, "Have you done this before?"

"Nope."

Kiba grabbed his collar and they jumped on the hammer before being sent flying up in the air with an explosion. They squinted their eyes at the massive air pressure rushing across their faces before finally reaching their apex just above the Nevermore. Kiba activated his Semblance one more time and with the last of his strength he threw Naruto at full power.

Naruto thrusted his swords forward and _Stormer_ pierced into its back, _Gatling_ spreading outward and piercing through its wings. Naruto and the clipped Grimm fell down towards the center spire of the ruins.

Ruby saw them falling and yelled, "Okay guys, now!"

Blake and Sasuke sprinted forward with their weapons at the ready, his _Vollamond_ _Reflexion_ in his hand while she changed _Gambol Shroud_ into its sickle form. She took the first strike and started waving her mid-ranged weapon against its head and legs while he slid in close.

With four quick sheathe pulls, he sliced the powerful Grimm's stomach before leaping over its back and slashing it again. With the two warriors positioned, Tenten threw her hands out and chains shot out from her sleeves. Sasuke and Blake caught the chains and started to encircle the massive creature in a trap.

It howled and tried to escape but a white Glyph appeared under its feet before turning black and locking it in place. Yang cocked her gauntlets before running forward and slamming the monster across the head. She started throwing a barrage of devastating explosive punches and yelled loudly with each strike. She brought her fist down and a golden Glyph appeared beneath her before her power increased and she uppercutted the Grimm into the sky.

The Nevermore slammed into the Alpha Wolf before they were both pinned to the central spire. Naruto barreled through the monsters' chests and blasted through the concrete before landing on the platform and pulling his sword. The two Grimm started squawking and yelping in pain as they were locked together by the joint attack.

Weiss jumped to the edge of the incomplete bridge before waving her sword and creating another white Glyph. Ruby turned around and cocked _Crescent Rose_ before letting out a deep breath...

***Bang***

Ruby dashed forward with the extra power of her gun and leapt off the white Glyph to land on the side of the plateau. A series of silver Glyphs led up the side of the massive rock structure and Ruby ran upwards as quickly as possible as they held her against gravity. She finally reached the top of the plateau before jumping up and into the sky.

One last Glyph appeared in midair and Ruby's feet pressed against it before she launched herself off it like a missile.

She flew down at breakneck speed as she left a trail of petals behind her. She held her scythe over her head and spun forward until the colors of her skin, clothes, and weapon blurred into one huge color. A massive red circle with a layer of silver in the middle. The beautiful attack soared downwards at the two captured Grimm.

***SCHWIP***

The scythe slashed through both of their necks in an instant. Ruby finally stopped spinning and fell off the edge into the trench as the severed heads bounced off the steeple and down below.

Everyone stood in complete amazement and disbelief of what had just happened. It was over. They won.

Jaune fell on his butt while taking deep breathes. He felt his heart nearly pop from the adrenaline before wheezing out, "Wow. I can't believe that just happened."

He felt someone place a hand on his shoulder and pat his back. He looked up to see Pyrrha smile at him proudly before speaking, "We did it."

Nora and Ren were helping an exhausted Kiba up to his feet before the shorter girl cheered, "Yeah! We kick butt!"

Ren did the same with a small smile and Kiba weakly raised his fist with a grin, "Yipee."

On the other side of the gap, the other group looked at the bodies of their fallen enemies and felt a sense of relief wash over them. Tenten cheered and hugged her partner as Sasuke sheathed his weapon. Blake helped an exhausted Weiss up to her feet before they both smiled at their victory. Yang had her hands on her hips and was laughing until-"

"Ruby!" Her heart sank as she realized her baby sister had fallen off the edge after the amazing attack. She ran over to the edge of the central platform and looked around for any sight of her little sister. The others soon realized their youngest member was missing as well and ran over to search for her. Yang cupped her hands over her mouth, "Ruby~!"

Yang's scream echoed through the massive trench.

"Yang~!"

Yang perked up when she heard Ruby's voice answer back. She looked around, "Where are you?!"

They all looked around until Jaune looked over the edge of the cliff and pointed down, "Over there!"

They all followed his finger and looked down below the platform. They spotted Naruto holding on to the pillar that held the entire structure up from the trench and wrapped around his neck was Ruby on his back. They both waved up at their friends before everyone cheered happily.

Naruto continued climbing up as Ruby spoke behind his ear, "Thanks for jumping over the side to catch me. I was kinda feeling dizzy after all the spinning and running."

"No problem." He answered before looking over his shoulder and smiling, "That was pretty badass what you did with the spinning and _Crescent Rose_ by the way. Hands down the coolest thing I've ever seen someone do before."

"Thanks." Ruby looked off to the side embarrassingly, "But that was the first time I've ever actually done something like that. Didn't even know I could do it."

"Yeah. You might not want to tell Yang that. She's gonna be pissed at you as is." Naruto mused while he continued grabbing cracks in the rocks and climbing up.

"You don't have to tell me."

Naruto and Ruby both laughed as they heard their friends continue cheering. Naruto smiled, "So I guess you and Weiss worked things out now, right?"

"Uhhhhh-I don't know about that." Ruby rolled her eyes while grumbling, "I still think she and I have a lot of things to work out..."

"But?"

"But..." Ruby had a small smile while looking up, "I'm glad I got her as my partner."

Naruto smiled as well and nodded, "Yeah. It might not be as bad as we thought."

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

("Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark. Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester.")

The four young men stood at attention on the stage of the amphitheater with their profile pictures and names appearing on the screen. Ozpin and Glynda stood besides each other as the headmaster continued speaking, ("The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will be known as Team CRDL (Cardinal), led by...Cardin Winchester.")

The crowd cheered and the profile pictures changed their order to follow the name Ozpin had just given.

They walked off the stage and Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren stood proudly in a line in front of their headmaster. He looked over all of them, ("Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will be known as Team JNPR (Juniper).")

The entire audience clapped and cheered as their names and pictures shuffled to follow their new team.

("Led by...Jaune Arc.")

Jaune blinked in shock before looking at the silver-haired man in disbelief. Before he could even protest, he felt a sturdy punch impact against his arm and make him stagger to the side. He rubbed his sore arm and looked over to see Pyrrha nodding proudly at his status while Nora hugged Ren closely, the other boy not feeling so in the mood for hugs. Jaune nervously smile and laughed before looking to the side in worry.

Naruto, Kiba, Sasuke, and Tenten took center stage and stood quietly with their hands behind their backs. Ozpin looked over them, ("Kiba Inuzuka. Tenten Tamura. Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto Uzumaki. The four of you retrieved the white...and red bishop pieces.")

The other three slowly turned to the side and glared at the whiskered boy as he shrugged. They didn't have time to wash the piece Naruto picked up.

("From this day forward, you will be known as Team NKTS (Noctis), led by...Naruto Uzumaki.")

Naruto blinked in surprise before looking over at his teammates. They looked towards him and smiled before Tenten leaned over and wrapped her arms around all their necks. Naruto looked around for a bit before looking off stage to see Ruby and her group standing together. The short hooded girl smiled and gave him a thumbs-up for his achievement.

Naruto was still shocked until he smiled back and nodded.

As the last group to be initiated, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang stood at attention. Ozpin spoke, ("Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will be known as Team RWBY (Ruby), led by...Ruby Rose.")

Weiss looked on in shock before turning to her equally surprised partner. Before they could say anything, Yang came running over and enveloped her little sister in a proud and spine-breaking hug.

While the students clapped and cheered for their new teams and classmates, Ozpin spoke into the microphone, ("Take the rest of the night to prepare yourselves everyone. Find your rooms and get some rest...from tomorrow morning, your real challenges as students here begin.")

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

**_Done_**

**_I. Feel. Swamped._**

**_I need to get more used to multiple people fighting at once. That's a pretty common thing to happen in battles._**

**_I was actually going to call them Team Nexus, but Noctis was suggested by someone and it worked so much better. It's Latin and translates to "Of Night," which works better to follow the color theme RWBY has._**

**_Speaking of RWBY lore, I thought up of song names that follow NKTS themes just like the RWBY trailers did._**

**_N- Home to Nowhere_**

**_K- Animal Heart_**

**_T- Iron Child_**

**_S- Blood Moon Chains_**

**_As an answer to those few people that keep giving me the same review, just to make you happy, the next story I'll update will be Prince. I just wanted to get a few more things out there before I step back into the funny light._**

**_ReadxReview_**

**_Thank You and Bye_**


	6. Extra: N Trailer

Hunting or Bust

Extra: N Trailer

When I finished Season 10 of Red vs Blue, I saw the Red trailer for the first time. I was so excited, but I didn't even realize that I was going to have to wait more than half a year until I finally got to see the brain child of Monty Oum. But it was worth it.

Anyway, back on track...some people asked if I could do trailers for NKTS like the ones that came out for RWBY...

Yes. Yes I can.

Please remember to review each chapter. These will be focusing on one character each and I'd like to hear your feedback on what you thought.

Actually, I'd like it if you guys reviewed every chapter. I live for those things, they're awesome.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

_"You understand the job, right?"_

"Yeah man, I got it."

_"There's a cache of weapons in that warehouse from Atlas getting moved to Mistral in a few days. But Mr. Wilsk is interested in seeing them in his inventory so you and your little friend are going to go pick them up."_

"'Pick up', right. Sure." He said with a tired roll of his eyes. Criminals really did use that stupid change of terminology. They thought giving something a bit of a lighter title made it different from normal thievery.

_"If any of those soldiers get in your way, take care of them. Just bring the weapons back to us and-"_

"Yeah, I get it. Grab the guns. Bring 'em back." The young whiskered blond was standing behind the corner of another building in the empty docks while keeping a watch on the white armored soldiers moving the weapons. He was wearing a black hoodie to cover his head and a new black bandana around his neck. The sheathes that hold _Gatling Stormer_ were secured firmly to his back. He spoke into his Scroll, "After this, we're even right? We made up for the damages?"

_"That will be up to Mr. Wilsk once you're finished. Don't contact us until you're done."_

The call ended and a tone rang through Naruto's ears. He groaned and snapped the device shut before pocketing it away. He shook his head before looking back to his target. He pulled the bandana over his mouth to cover his face, "How the hell did we get into this situation?"

The security soldiers of the Atlas delivery were moving the sleek silver cargo into the warehouse for the pickup that would come the next day. They all did their job effortlessly and perfectly of what was required of them.

But they didn't notice the figure in black rappel down from the ceiling using a steel wire and a blade.

Naruto landed behind cover without making a single noise. He had had a lot of practice with moving in the shadows and making others unaware of his presence. In fact he was so confident in his stealth and maneuverability that he could probably wear bright neon colors and still sneak around like a ninja.

The purpose of stealth was to go unnoticed, right? Well if they never even knew you were there then it probably wouldn't matter what you wore.

But Naruto decided not to risk it this time. A hoodie to cover his head and his bandana to cover his face. These guys were part of the largest military might in the world after all. He didn't want them noticing his face so he could go up on the Atlesian Most Wanted List.

Naruto snuck behind the cargo without raising any alarms. It was nighttime but he could still see the guards and soldiers clearly. He just had to grab whatever he could, maybe try and knock a few of these guys out, and then he and Sasuke would be done with all of this.

One soldier placed a box of cargo on top of a large set before he started walking away to get the rest. Naruto's hand swiftly popped up from behind the cover and grabbed the box before pulling it away. Naruto effortlessly ran to an alley outside of the warehouse and dropped off the merchandise before making his way back.

Naruto continued to sneak in and out of the warehouse while stealing the smaller boxes of weapons without bringing any alarm to the guards. He made his was to one of the bigger sleek crates of weapons and prepared to sneak the guns out quietly. But when he tried to open the box he found it was impossible to open the top.

Naruto looked at the crate in confusion before noticing at its side was an electrical lock that needed a number crunch to open it. His eyes widened in shock before looking over all the cargo in sight and noticing they had the same lock.

Naruto pulled one of his short blades out of its sheathe before trying to force the cover open. After a few failed attempts to slide it between the thin opening, Naruto realized this wasn't gonna work without the codes.

"Crap."

Naruto clicked his tongue against his teeth...before looking up to see a soldier in full armor with a doughnut in his hand staring silently at the thief.

...

Naruto shook his head, "Dude, for both our sakes...don't do it."

The soldier dropped his doughnut and reached back to grab his gun to incapacitate the thief. But Naruto spun the short blade in his hand and shot an arrow into the soldier's chin to knock him out. The soldier staggered back after the strike to his exposed chin and started shaking on his legs...

***Bang*Bang*Bang*Bang***

But that didn't stop him from firing his gun off into the ground.

Naruto flinched as the loud gunshots echoed through the warehouse. Naruto didn't do anything until he slowly turned to the side to see all the soldiers looking directly at him.

He gave a weak chuckle, "H-hi guys. Nice weather we're having, am I right?"

They all stopped what they were doing and grabbed the guns latched to their backs. They immediately started unloading bullets at the young man as he dove behind another crate for protection. When the soldiers started running towards his position he immediately ran out of cover and started evading the bullets getting sent at him. He flipped and slid over crates before vaulting off them and spinning in the air. The young thief was doing whatever he could not to get ripped apart by the barrage of bullets.

He finally slid behind a larger crate that protected him from the onslaught of bullets. The soldiers stopped firing and stayed weary as they looked at the crate the interloper had hid behind. Some of the Atlesian soldiers looked between each other before slowly making their way towards the crate.

The large crate was thrown off the ground and knocked most of the opposing force off their feet and onto their backs. They looked at the massive cargo crate that weighed more than most of them could lift on their best day before turning to look at the culprit.

His features were still hidden beneath his hoodie and bandana combo, but he was no longer hiding from sight. He had a long katana in his right hand and several short blades along his arms tied together by wire. He took a moment to fix the set of weapons he was using before grunting confidently and lowering himself into a stance.

The moment one of the soldiers twitched to raise his weapons, Naruto started firing arrows from all of his swords in every direction. Some soldiers ducked behind cover while some were knocked back by the arrows hitting them in their weak spots.

Naruto dashed forward and caught a soldier off guard before swiping his swords and knocking the man high into the air and against the roof. One soldier aimed his way but Naruto started swinging his blades and swords to deflect the bullets flying towards him. He leapt forward and swatted the soldier away into a pile of crates.

Two soldiers looked between each other and decided this wasn't working. They switched out their guns for combat batons and swung them down to get their maximum length.

The soldiers pounced at the unsuspecting perpetrator that looked back at the last moment and back flipped away from harm. He gripped _Stormer_ tightly and blocked the charge of both soldiers as they started swinging their batons at him with expert skill. Naruto had to keep turning and stepping back as the soldiers kept advancing forward at the same time.

Until Naruto spun his arms out in a wide circle and all ten blades spun out in front of him, blocking the two batons and undoubtedly frightening the soldiers. Naruto started holding his palms together and swinging back and forth as all of the blades started attacking in unison. Naruto spun on his knees while holding his arms out together and both soldiers were knocked back by the extraordinary force of his attack.

Some of he soldiers started to groan and pull themselves up as Naruto grabbed one by the helmet, "Where are the codes to the locks?"

"Uhhhhhhhhh-bleh."

He passed out and Naruto sighed exhaustively before catching something in the corner of his eye. He saw three other soldiers running out of the warehouse and somewhere safe away from him. One of them was holding a miniature Scroll tightly in his hand and trying to hide it out of sight. Naruto narrowed his eyes before he started chasing after them.

While running after the escaping soldiers he pulled out his Scroll and dialed up his partner's contact, "Sasuke!"

_"..."_

"Sasuke?"

_"..."_

"SASUKE?!"

_"Huh? What?"_

"What are you doing you idiot?! Did you not hear all the gunfire and me kicking ass?!"

_"S-sorry Naruto...I was-um-thinking about something."_

"Well pull your head out of your ass and get down to the warehouse! I knocked a few soldiers out but there are still a lot of them getting back up! And we can't open the cargo unless we have a security code and I think one of these guys I'm chasing has it! Make sure the place is clear for us to run when I get back!"

_"Roger."_

The call ended and Naruto pocketed his Scroll as the three soldiers started making a turn into another alley. Naruto narrows his eyes, jumped up and launched himself off a wall, and fell through the air until he tackled one of the soldiers into the ground.

The second one turned around to see the hoodie wearing intruder coming up behind them and pulled out his gun. He started firing rounds at the thief but Naruto blocked them with his swords. He clapped his hands and all eleven swords fired arrows at the soldier, slamming against him at different points on his body and knocking him out.

The last soldier was climbing the ladder to the top of one of the buildings with Naruto hot on his trail. The whiskered boy jumped up to the roof and watched the large man run to the edge of the roof.

He turned around and faced the boy hiding his features from the light. Naruto noticed that this guy was much larger and more muscular than the other soldiers. And while their armor was predominately white, his had a tone of silver that shined against the shattered moonlight. That meant he could be something like a Lieutenant. Naruto looked at the man's hand and saw the small Scroll in his palm before demanding, "Give me the codes. We need them."

The large military man pulled out a pistol and started firing at the thief that just ducked and dodged the bullets before swiping them away. His gun was empty and Naruto spoke once again, "Hand it over. Or I'll take it from you."

The soldier looked down at the device in his hand before carefully placing it in his back pocket. He then reached behind him and pulled something out to use when facing the man in front of him.

The Atlesian soldier pulled out a long whip that was folded into itself with a sharp knife secured to its tip. He gripped the handle tightly and started feeding the knife-tip through his hands until it had a fair bit of length from his hand. He gripped one point tightly and started spinning the knife-tipped head at ridiculous speeds.

***Schwip***

Naruto's eyes widened as he leaned to the side and felt the knife barely miss his head while it pierced through his hoodie. Before he could do anything else the knife-tip was pulled back immediately and the solider started spinning the whip around him.

He jerked forward and the whip came at Naruto who barely blocked it with his sword. It immediately came back down from the other direction and continued doing so with unbelievable accuracy. But Naruto didn't falter and blocked every swipe of the whip with his blades.

The roof was covered in a flurry of long-range and nearly invisible attacks as the two combatants kept trying to gain ground on each other. Sparks flew and the sound of wires and whips filled the air while the two men fought each other. The soldier wrapped the whip around his arm and started leading it with even better accuracy as Naruto staved the knife off with his blades.

Naruto slid to his knees and started firing arrows as quickly as he could at the lieutenant but just watched as the large man spun his whip around him like a barrier. Naruto clicked his teeth and spun along the ground like a top as he gave his strings some slack to extend and slash towards the soldier who blocked his blades. He took the initiative and started aiming the knife-tip from above down at the thief. Naruto kicked off the ground as the knife came down near his head and followed him across the roof.

The lieutenant pulled back on the whip before snapping it forward and nearly piercing through Naruto's head. The whiskered boy ducked and watched as the soldier spun around before extending his whip to its full length. Naruto had to jump and spin over the long weapon as it nearly covered the whole roof.

Naruto landed back to his feet and gritted his teeth. This was a pain in the ass. They both had long-ranged weapons, but this guy had more experience with using his weapon in combat. Naruto usually opted to beat his enemies quickly when he used _Gatling Stormer_, because it was a difficult weapon to utilize continuously in battle. The longer this fight lasted, the more his enemy was going to get used to his moves. Which put him at a disadvantage.

Naruto sent his blades up to shoot arrows again but with amazing skill the lieutenant sent the knife-tip forward and sliced through the wires holding his blades together. Naruto watched in shock as his swords fell around him after they were separated.

He then felt an immense pain run through his chest and slowly looked down to see the knife-tip of the whip had imbedded itself in his sternum. Underneath his bandana, blood slowly started to trickle down his chin as he choked, "Wh-"

The knife-tip was pulled out of his chest and the lieutenant spun around before bringing the whip in full circle, causing a long gash to go up from the thief's stomach to his ribs.

The Atlesian Lieutenant looked in shock as the shorter man fell to the ground with a terrible injury.

He caught the tip of his weapon back into his other hand while wondering what just happened. He had used this weapon for years now but something like this had never happened before. His adversaries were blown back or knocked out when he used an attack like that but it never pierced through someone like that before. How did that happen?

Before he could wonder about what had happened, he saw the young man start to lift himself off the ground while blood poured out of the wound. With strength he wouldn't expect someone with such a grievous injury to have, he stood up swiftly like it was nothing. He could still see the deep wounds underneath the jacket and shirt but the skin started to close and heal itself. After a moment the only evidence he even had those wounds was the blood that stained his clothes.

The lieutenant watched as the young man raised his gaze to show off the determined and unflinching eyes hidden under the hood.

Naruto was trying to find his breath as his body healed itself. His eyes wandered along the ground to see _Stormer_ and all of his short blades spread along the ground in front of the solider. All except for one short blade lying next to his foot.

That's fine.

That will be more than enough.

Naruto slipped the short blade over his foot before kicking it up and effortlessly grabbing it out of the air. He spun it in his hand with exceptional skill before aiming it at the soldier.

The soldier decided not to take anymore chances and started spinning his whip again.

He whipped it forward but Naruto brought the short blade up and parried the thrust. The soldier started swinging the whip around at blinding speeds but Naruto blocked all of them with his technique. When Naruto blocked a strike, he stepped forward in a rain of sparks and clashing metal.

The soldier swung his arms around and brought the whip down from overhead as Naruto stepped out of its path. He kicked _Stormer_ up into his hand and started using both blades to block the onslaught of whip attacks. The advantage of fighting against a powerful long-range opponent, they have a hard time quickly adjusting to close-quarters when the enemy came in close.

The soldier pulled the whip back and thrusted the knife-tip towards Naruto, only for the younger man to dodge by a hair's breath and slicing the whip in half. It fell uselessly to the ground as Naruto came in close to the taller and older man.

Naruto yelled loudly before a barrage of sword strikes smacked the larger man all around the roof. The Atlesian soldier's body jerked left and right as Naruto's blades brought with them staggering, heavy blows. Naruto continued slashing at the man's armor and knocking him around until finally landing a punch under his chin and sending him into the air.

Naruto stood silently as the man flew through the air before landing on his face. He lifted his head with a groan before losing consciousness and lying still on the ground. Naruto pulled the bandana off his face and spit up some blood before wiping his mouth.

He walked over to the downed lieutenant and searched over his body before finding his target. He pulled up the small Scroll and touched it as dozens of pass-codes started running over the screen.

Naruto lowered the Scroll before looking down at the short blade in his hand. He still had the skill...still had the ability to fight with it...and he still felt ashamed to use it for the wrong reasons.

The Scroll in his pocket started to vibrate and Naruto pulled it out to see Sasuke's profile on the screen. He answered, _"Hey, you all right? Did you get the codes?"_

Naruto answered unenthusiastically, "Yeah. I got it. I'm coming back."

_"Right. I'll see you soon."_

Naruto closed the device before letting out a dejected sigh. He just stared down at the floor silently until he started walking around and picking up his swords. He returned them into their sheathes before rubbing his thumb over the bandana in his hand.

He ran it under his hood and started tying it over his head before pulling his hood off. This was what he was now.

This is what he had to do to now.

This was the path he found himself on.

**(((((((Hunting))))))))**

**_Done_**

**_I like writing this stuff. It is so much fun not writing the usual techniques and stuff and just relying on fighting and guns._**

**_It's refreshing._**

**_And cool._**

**_This is set some time before the first chapter. Naruto seemed like he was having a hard time using his weapons because he was. He had time to train more with Gatling Stormer and Sasuke over time while they were thieves. This being the first time they were stealing something, they were a lot different than who they are currently._**

**_Anyway, write a review and tell me what you think._**

**_ReadxReview_**

**_Thank You and Bye_**


	7. Extra: K Trailer

Hunting or Bust

Extra: K Trailer

RWBY Volume 2 is over! Now we get to enjoy the overwhelmingly painful and arduous task of waiting another year for Volume 3...y-yay.

Make sure to leave a review on what you think.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

Kiba stretched out his legs to get his muscles limber and ready for a run. He started jumping on his feet while rotating his shoulders around and made sure that _Crimson Fang_ was attached to his belt. He casually walked towards the forest before taking out some headphones so he could listen to music on his run. Until he felt something nudge against his thigh and moan.

"Nnn...nnn...nnn"

He looked down and saw a massive dog with white fur standing by his side while whimpering sadly. Kiba kneeled down by the dog's face, "Hey Akamaru, what's wrong buddy?"

The dog's ears fell and he let out another whimper.

Kiba shrugged his shoulders, "What? I'm not gonna be gone for long. I'm going on a quick run through the forest and then I'll be back and we can play with everybody else. What's the big deal?"

Akamaru growled.

"Well duh Missy and Sprinkles are gonna act all pompous, they're cats. That's their thing."

Akamaru let out a quick bark.

"Well that's a good thing you stopped them from eating Zephyr and Icarus. They gotta know that we don't eat each other here."

"Rarh."

"Hey, c'mon." Kiba started scratching behind the dog's ears and smiled, "You're the boss of the kennel now buddy. This is the job passed on to the next big guy in charge. It's gonna be tough but I'm gonna be by your side to help."

"Grrrrrrr."

Kiba looked to the side in guilt, "Okay, until I go off to Beacon, but that's still a few months away. And you know I'm gonna come back home as soon as I can to see you guys again. So please don't be mad."

Akamaru's face fell and he whimpered a little while nudging closer to Kiba and sniffing his chest. Kiba felt just as sad to leave Akamaru, his family, and everybody else at the kennel to go study at Beacon next semester. Even though he felt grateful for being accepted and unbelievably happy to go to the school of his dreams to follow in his family's footsteps, he still didn't like the idea of leaving everyone behind.

Kiba smiled and patted his friend's head, "Hey...since I'll be leaving soon, let's start making up for the time I'll be gone. Wanna come running?"

Akamaru cheered up and started panting happily before barking in excitement.

"All right!" Kiba stood up and pounded his fist, "Then let's go!"

He and Akarmaru stood besides each other on the edge of the forest as he stretched his arms, "Okay, when I say go, we start sprinting, and the first one-"

Akamaru immediately darted along the ground and left Kiba in the dust.

The tattooed boy staggered for a moment before chasing after his dog, "Hey! I didn't mean go yet you jerk! Cheater!"

Kiba started sprinting as fast as he possibly could and tried to catch up to his canine partner. After a few moments of running, he could see Akamaru's butt and tail wag while he serpentine around the trees. Kiba smirked as he watched the friend he had been growing up with for years start overtaking him in the race.

But no way in hell it was gonna stick that way.

Kiba felt the sensation of his body becoming stronger and more agile as his Feral Semblance started to kick in. His sprinting speed increased 2 fold and he started catching up to the white dog. He decided to make this more fun for himself and jumped off the tree trunk towards the branches.

Akamaru happily ran through the forest before he noticed leaves fall around him and the rustling of tree branches. He looked up to see Kiba quickly jump from one branch to another on his hands and feet. The wild boy smiled down at his dog, "I'm gonna win!"

Akamaru barked before he started running even faster. He and Kiba started crossing around each other as the dog started jumping off lower branches for speed while Kiba started running along the ground. The two partners continued their race until Akamaru jumped off a tree and barreled into Kiba's back as the boy yelped and they both rolled along the ground.

They landed in the dirt with Akamaru happily lying on Kiba's body while he laid facedown in the ground. The boy started squirming under the dog's weight, "Okay! Okay! You win! Get off me!"

Akamaru crawled off Kiba while the young man sat up and rubbed his back tenderly. Kiba frowned before chuckling and patting the dog's head, "I don't even know why you're worried about me leaving. You're gonna be just fine here and I'm sure I won't face anyone nearly as tough as you."

Akamaru barked happily while he leaned into Kiba's hand to encourage him to pet more. Until the dog's eyes opened and he started growling menacingly and lowered himself in a offensive manner, focused in one direction.

Kiba blinked in confusion before his enhanced senses started kicking in and he noticed what the dog was growling at. Kiba slowly turned his head around to see a set of Beowolves start to emerge from the bushes. Their red eyes were set solely on the human boy and started to grow deeply, **"Grrrrrrrrr."**

Akamaru slid in front of Kiba protectively and started growling in return, "Grrrrrrrrrr."

Kiba stood back up and looked around as Beowolves started emerging from the forest on all sides. He nudged Akamaru's side, "Get ready buddy, I think we have some work to do before we get back."

The Grimm all started to slowly creep towards the pair as Akamaru snarled his teeth and Kiba slowly pulled out his tonfa. The dog and hunter-in-training stood besides each other as a pack of Grimm started blocking all sides. Kiba's eyes panned back and forth before a grin came over his face.

He reached back and grabbed Akamaru before throwing him at the Grimm, "Akamaru! Attack!"

The massive white dog curled up tightly and slammed into a Beowolf's chest so strongly that it blew the monster back. Akamaru landed on his paws and started swerving around while biting into another Beowolf's leg and pulling it out from underneath. One of the Grimm swiped at the large dog but Akamaru jumped over the claw and gave the massive monster a staggering headbutt. The dog barked loudly before charging forward and tackling another Beowolf to the ground.

Kiba turned around and started spinning _Crimson Fang's_ grip in his hands with a confident smirk, his hair and teeth spiked to indicate that Feral was still in affect. One Beowolf started charging at him and Kiba smacked its head with the far end of his weapon. Kiba then stepped close and and started smacking the monster's body with each spin of his weapons. The monster's body jerked around rapidly as Kiba's arms started to blur and he made each hit count to damage the Grimm.

Kiba flipped and kicked off the Grimm's chest and slammed into another Beowolf behind him. He held out his arms and started firing rounds into the beasts that surrounded him. He jumped and kicked two of them in the head before blasting another in the chest. A larger one came charging in and slammed into the boy's chest as he blocked the attack with his sturdy tonfa. Kiba flew through the air before sliding against the ground and snarling his teeth while twirling his weapon by its grip.

Akamaru spun through the air and tackled a Beowolf before ripping its chest up with his claws. He barked and continued to bounce off the Grimm while slashing across their chests.

It wasn't uncommon for him and Kiba to fight besides each other when they needed to. Their parents had been teaching them how to fight and work with each other for as long as they could remember. And while the Grimm didn't seem the least bit interested in the dog, they were always lurking towards Kiba for a meal. And to Akamaru, that was just as bad as them trying to eat him.

While the two fought, an Ursa and Boarbatusks started following the noise and came to attack as well. The boar Grimm spun on the ground and propelled themselves forward as Akamaru charged and bounced them off his head. The dog stumbled back in pain before the Ursa walked up behind him and prepared for the kill. But Kiba charged in from the side and slammed his tonfa into its ribs before planting it into the ground and slamming his rocket-powered fist into its head.

The two partners stood between each other and protected their backs. Kiba punched through the chests of the Grimm while Akamaru pounced and ripped through their necks. The boy ducked underneath their attacks before punching up and sending several of them high into the air. Akamaru jumped and spun through the air, knocking several of them back and away from the duo.

Kiba finally flipped through the air and landed on Akamaru's back as the white dog howled. Akamaru dashed around the trees and formed a perimeter the Grimm could not escape from as Kiba started unloading round after round to the center where they were all gathered together. The monsters let out dying roars and shrieks as they were pelted with bullets from the boy riding his dog.

The last set of them were struggling on their feet before Kiba and Akamaru came barreling in and blasted them away. Kiba jumped off his dog and they separated before standing besides each other ready for another attack. Except there were none to be seen. Only smoking trees and destroyed earth along with the corpses of all the Grimm they had just slain.

Kiba and Akamaru quickly looked around and noticed the mess they had caused. Kiba clicked his tongue in worry before pocketing his weapon and kneeling besides his dog, "Akamaru...we can't tell anyone about this, okay? Mom and Sis would have our asses if they find out."

Akamaru shook in worry at the thought of being punished by the two fierce women before he barked in agreement.

Kiba nodded, "Good."

Kiba stood up before he beckoned for his partner to follow, "We should probably get out of here...like right now."

Akamaru barked happily and followed after him.

"Hey do you think mom's done cooking dinner yet? I'm starving!"

"Bark bark!"

"Woah! No way! You did a good job but you ain't getting part of my steak! I'm hungry!"

"Grrrrrrrrrrr!"

"Hey don't growl at me! Look, if you want some, how about we race for it? Ready, se-SEE YA LATER SUCKER!"

"BARK!"

Kiba darted off and got a head start as Akamaru chased after him, barking furiously at the cheap move. In a race to see who would win the right to eat the delicious steak they got to eat once a week at their house.

**((((((((Hunting))))))))**

_**Done**_

_**Like I would make a version of Kiba that didn't have Akamaru. Pa-lease.**_

_**So, that's it. The manga is done. A few more chapters in 2015 but essentially that's it. Good run. Ups and downs but overall that series will stick with me forever.**_

_**Thank you Naruto. For 15 years.**_

_**On another note, what do you guys think is gonna be the next huge anime/manga to take its place? Naruto stands as the most purchased and well known Japanese series in mainstream America. And it's also hands down the most popular category in the anime sections of fanfic. Do you think it's still got a long ways to go before teetering off? Or are other series gonna start picking up the slack?**_

_****__**Personally I hope One Piece picks up more over here and people will look past the bad rep it got under the 4kids dub.**_

_**Interesting to see.**_

_**Me...I've got work to do.**_

_**ReadxReview**_

_**Thank You and Bye**_


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